


Asexy Ships - Sanders Sides

by TKWolf45



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Aroace spec, Aromantic spectrum, Asexuality Spectrum, M/M, Multi, Platonic Cuddling, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, Platonic Relationships, asexy, do not copy to other sites
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-02-04
Updated: 2019-05-14
Packaged: 2019-10-22 02:42:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 26
Words: 24,655
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17654525
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TKWolf45/pseuds/TKWolf45
Summary: (Finally decided to start uploading onto AO3 from Wattpad)Collection of short queerplatonic (typically of the asexual and aromantic variety) fanfictions involving Anxiety|Virgil, Logic|Logan, Morality|Patton, and Princey|Roman! The other sides will appear in these fics but the main focus will be on the two listed per each chapter!





	1. Anxiety and Logic #1

_Virgil's POV_

Everything was fairly quiet, except for the occasional car driving through the neighborhood. And the dramatic, obnoxious outbursts emanating from Roman's open window whenever he hit a creative block. Patton was probably either long asleep or sneaking back into the kitchen for a "secret" second cookie. I, personally, just didn't feel like being inside quite yet. I wanted the rest of them to go to sleep before returning back into the house. 

I heard the window in the attic creak open then gently shut again. "Can't sleep?" I glanced over and saw Logan in his Christmas sweater and some pajama pants. 

"Not usually. You?" 

Logan sat down next to me and looked up at the sky. "No. Roman's shouting into the middle of the night has me wanting to demonstrate the word 'defenestration' to him. And of course Patton doesn't hear it at all." He looked back to me. "So why are you out here instead of in your room?" 

"Sometimes the outside is darker than the inside. And calmer." I stared at the sky, still squinting. 

"Would you, perhaps, like to borrow my glasses?" 

I glanced at him. "Why, perhaps, would I do that?" 

"So you can see the stars?" 

"I don't want to see any dumb balls of fiery gas. I see one everyday." 

The corner to Logan's mouth twitched upwards. "If that was an insult directed to Roman, I approve." He looked back to the sky before standing up and leaving. 

I followed his departure with a frown on my face. Of course... maybe I was too depressing for him to want to stick around. I shouldn't be surprised. But it did sting a little. I returned my attention to the sky, squinting, hoping I could just fall asleep so I wouldn't have to go back inside. 

Except, my mind was still running through the whole conversation, wondering what happened to make him leave so suddenly. I mean, yeah, he doesn't do emotions, and I don't really either, but... what was that? 

I was still processing my 20th theory on why he left (maybe 30th, I lost count somewhere in there) when I heard Logan grumble from the window, "A little help here, Virge?" 

I glanced over and see him trying to shove an entire telescope covered in blankets through the window, unassisted. "What are you doing? Isn't that a couple hundred dollars worth of science-y equipment?!" 

"Try a couple thousand! Help me get it through without damaging it?" Logan instructed. 

After several minutes of Logan talking and me muttering curses under my breath, the telescope was finally laying flat on the roof, and Logan and I were sitting next to it. He was fiddling with little knobs while I was huffing. I watched him set it up, peering through it several times, turning some other knobs and readjusting pieces. He finally glanced over at me. "Well, aren't you curious about the stars or were you just wanting to be angst-y and peer into the void?" 

I cracked a small smile and scooched over to him. "How does this... thing work?" 

"This tool aids us in seeing remote objects, like galaxies and stars, far far away in space by collecting-" at my expression, he paused and said, "It's... it's a telescope Virgil. You look into this eyepiece here and you can see... stuff. That's really really far away." 

I eyed it suspiciously. "You didn't put any ink around the eyepiece, did you?" 

"Excuse me? Ink around the eyepiece? And possibly ruin one of the-" he paused and took a deep breath again. "No, Virgil. It was my understanding that you wanted to view the stars. Seeing as how we're in the city and there is a lot of light pollution, all you might get are stray stars here and there, unless you have a tool like this one." He took me by the shoulders and guided me to his telescope. "Just, trust me and look through this, alright?" 

I hummed nervously to myself, watching him suspiciously. He just stared back, starting to get impatient. Worst case, I suppose it would blend with my eye shadow... I sighed and peered through the eyepiece... and woah... does space really have these kinds of colors?! 

"What you're seeing is the galaxy M31, or Andromeda. It's the biggest galaxy we can see without aid of a binocular or telescope, except when there's all this photo-pollution around-" 

"You did this for me?" I turned and looked at him. 

He shrugged and uncrossed one of his arms long enough to readjust his glasses. "Well, you looked like you needed cheering up..." 

I half smiled at him. "Thanks Logan. That's... pretty cool of you." 

"Not a problem, Virgil. Would you like me to show you some other satellites?" 

I looked back into the telescope at Andromeda. "No, I'm alright..." 

"Alright," I heard him readjust the blankets and felt him place one over my shoulders. He sat down next to me and pull out a notebook. "Just try and not stay up too late looking through it. We probably have appointments to attend tomorrow." 

"Yeah, sure, whatever..."


	2. Anxiety and Logic #2

_Logan's POV_

I didn't remember falling asleep on the roof, but waking up to Roman gasping and exclaiming, "You and Falling Everywhere Boy?!" was not how I wanted to start off my day. 

Virgil grumbled something. He pulled his hoodie over his eyes and burrowed under the blankets I had brought out. I felt around for my glasses and put them on, squinting at Roman. "Do you mind NOT waking us up like that? Or at all? Sleep is a valuable..." I waved my hand around, trying to wake up, "Thingy for the body and you just messed mine up." 

"Thingy?" he snickered. "You mean tool or asset or something?" 

"Five more... years," Virgil mumbled. 

"Alright sunshine, you gotta wake up!" Roman yanked the blankets off Virgil, who hissed and covered his eyes with his hands. 

I sighed. "Roman, go wake Patton up and make breakfast. And make sure Patton doesn't get coffee. You remember the last time." 

Roman rolled his eyes and dramatically swept the blanket back atop Virgil. "VERY WELL, I shall!" He wandered back into the house through the window shouting for Patton to wake up and help him "Prepare the morning feast!" 

I watched the blanket settle down, gently obscuring Virgil's hunched over form. "Virge, you do have to wake up, though." The blanket rose and fell gently and steadily. I peered at him, seeing that he had dozed right back off again. 

I sat there, wondering how I should wake him up, when he shot bolt upright and yelled out, "THOMAS YOU'RE GOING TO BE LATE, GET GOING!" 

"Woah, calm down there. Late for what?" I asked. 

His eyes were wide open, darting around. "What day is it? We have a big performance and he needs to make sure-" 

I put my hand on his shoulder uncertainly. "Virgil, it's Saturday. That performance was last week. Breath with me: 8 seconds in, hold, 7 seconds out." 

"No it's..." he followed me with the breathing then blinked a few times. "Oh... you're right." He frowned at me. "Why're you in my room? Why is my room so bright?" 

"We're not in your room, we're on the rooftop." 

"The WHAT? You let me sleep here?! Don't you know how many..." he shuddered, "Ugh, life-threatening things could happen out here? Diseases, animals, Roman... fangirls... planes falling out of the sky... asteroids-"

"Virgil," I patted his shoulder a few times. "Would I let anything happen to you?" 

"I dunno... I guess not..." he rubbed his eyes, smudging his eye-shadow further down his cheeks. "So, Roman?" 

"He and Patton should be making breakfast right now." 

Virgil replaced his hood, shading his eyes from the brilliant daylight. "Hoping for some Crofter's?" 

I felt my mouth twitch upwards. "Perhaps." 

***

After breakfast, I barricaded myself in my room and peered through all the images we took on the telescope. I wanted to get the images developed before other work came my way. Or before Patton suggested his riveting game of "Pattoncake". Or before Roman tried to fight me again. I put my headphones in, hoping the combination of the social symbolism of a closed door and earbuds would deter those two from disturbing me. 

I was in the middle of rapping along to the Element Song for the 2nd (or maybe 20th) time when I finally finished saving and printing all the images. My printer blinked at me that it was low on ink, but I was mesmerized by how well the images turned out. It was almost as if we were still outside peering up at them. 

I took my earbuds out, but I still hummed to the Element Song, finishing it up as I walked to my bedroom door. I looked back at the rest of my room thinking I'll have plenty of time to fix it up later. Except, something didn't seem quite right. The curtains to my window seat were shut. I never shut them. When did somebody shut them? Who shut them? Why? 

I grabbed the nearest thing to me, my umbrella, and stalk slowly over to the curtains. I slowly pull them open with one end of the umbrella to see... Virgil laying there. He was sleeping like Fiona with a rose, except the rose was an open book. He had the blinds shut for the windows themselves, and a reading light on for the book. His hoodie was completely zipped up and one of my royal blue quilts was draped sloppily over just one of his feet. I looked at the cover of the book and found he was rereading my copy of "Julie of the Wolves", and one of the strings of his hoodie was acting as a temporary bookmark. 

Half-smiling, I gently took the book from his hands and saved his spot before replacing it on the shelf above his head. He stirred long enough to turn his back to me and doze off again, so I pulled the blanket up over his shoulders and shut the reading light off. 

"Sleep well, Virgil," I spoke softly, then went to his room to set up the pictures.


	3. Anxiety and Logic #3

_Virgil's POV_

Roman yelled into the house, "I'm going to the store! Does anyone want anything?" 

"More of the darkest eye shadow they have." 

"OH, can we get some of those glow-in-the-dark fishies?" 

"..."

I glanced at Logan's room and frowned. Usually, he'd geek out and say something about a type of pen or a science tool I couldn't hope to remember. "Hello? Logan?" Roman's voice got louder as he stalked towards Logan's room. "I asked you a AHH! Virgil! Don't you know better than to just pop up on people?" 

I snorted, "But where's the fun in that? Besides, I don't think he's feeling well." 

Roman huffed, "And why not? He's the healthiest of us all since he's 'too smart to get sick', or whatever, so why wouldn't he be fine?"

"Exactly how often have you seen him sleep on the roof before?" 

I could almost see and hear the "!" pop up above his head. "You're right!" He sounded surprised. 

I narrowed my eyes at him. "That usually happens, and yet you're always surprised." 

He made some offended prince-y noises, of which I ignored. "Anyway," he continued dramatically, "It's off to the STORE/ to make our POOR/ man feel less SORE!" (Was he singing that? I dunno.) 

"Please stop. Now I'm going to get sick-" 

"PATTON!" Roman yelled at near-Falsehood volume right next to me. "Let's run to the store real quick!" Roman announced while skipping back down the stairs. 

"Aaaand, I'm deaf," I mumbled. I waited for the sound of Roman and Patton to fade before descending into the kitchen and staring at everything. 

It was immaculate, but I didn't know where any of the... well anything was. I tugged at the drawstrings of my hoodie and messed with the sleeves of my jackets. What would even help him? Soup? I reached my hand to the pantry and gingerly opened it. It seemed like it was organized, but Patton's half-opened bags of granola seemed just thrown in there. I took the time to organize it before I started looking for the soup. 

Ah, there. Regular chicken noodle soup. A classic. It's simple, it's delicious, supposedly it's healthy. 

I looked at the stove-top and frowned. I looked at the microwave and frowned more. Would he want it more hot or kind of neutral? Do I want to use that many dishes? Too many options... I looked down at the can, wishing I could just microwave it without any problems. 

I poured the can into a bowl and followed the instructions to microwave it. In the meantime, I paced the kitchen, trying to remember what else is supposed to help the sick. Oh, a card. I got some paper out and stared at it. What should I write? I should make him laugh, right? But how could I do that? Something funny. Maybe a dad joke or a pun- no wait, Patton would love that. Maybe a reference to Disney- nope, that's Roman. Hmm... maybe something... science related? But what? The microwave beeped, and my sharpie sliced across the paper. 

"No no no no," I stared at the paper and sighed heavily. "Of course." I crumbled it up and threw it away. I found some unopened juice in the fridge and, hoping nobody was planning on using it for anything, I poured him a glass while grabbing a spoon. I took the soup and juice up to Logan's room and knocked with my foot. 

Logan opened the door and squinted out at me. "Can I, uh, help you with something Virgil?" he sniffed. His hair was tousled and he wasn't wearing his glasses. He was in his unicorn onesie, but he had his blanket wrapped tightly around his shoulders and was gripping a box of tissues tightly. 

"Actually, I was going to help you... I think..." 

He blinked slowly at me and rubbed his eyes. "I'm fine." 

"Sure. Tell that to someone who believes you." I showed him the food. "Can I come in?" 

He gingerly took the soup in one hand and nodded, opening the door for me. I walked in and saw tissues and cans of Lysol everywhere. "Aww jeez..." 

"I'm..." he started coughing. I looked over at him as he got it under control. "I'm fine Virgil. Could you set the glass next to my Newton's cradle?" 

I looked around at the unusually messy room. "Like... a baby cradle?" 

"No. The-" Logan visibly cringed, "The pendulum... thingy..." he sighed. 

"Oh. So that's what it's called." I did as he asked and looked at him. "You should go to the doctor." 

"How can I? I have class tonight and I can't miss any more days." He sat down, staring at his messy floor. "And yet it hurts to move and think. Besides, you know what they're gonna tell me? Stay home until the fever drops and in the meantime keep getting fluids in. Do you know anything about homolysis and heterolysis?" Before I could respond, he muttered, "Guess I'll just miss this class, then miss the next one, then stop going altogether, become a hermit, die, and life will go on." 

I frowned at him. "That's pretty dark for you. Consider this, someone attending your class for you while you get better?" 

He slowly looked up at me, hope (or probably those tears you get when you've coughed too hard) were in his eyes. "Would you? Wait, yes. This is perfect! You can wear my glasses and my clothes and just sit there for an hour and I can study the material at a later time when I can think properly again." 

"Woah, hold on-"

He sat down on his bed, putting the tissue down and sniffing. He held the bowl in both hands and continued, "I have a pair of glasses that can record several hours at a time. All you would have to do is dress like me, go there, and come back. It's perfect!" 

"Yes, sure, but what if people realize?" 

"We have the same face. Nobody's going to know a thing." He was shivering a little, so he took a sip of the soup and started eating it. 

"But don't you talk in class?" 

"The teacher forbade me unless I was genuinely confused about something, which is never. You don't have to say anything to anyone. Should be easy." 

I sighed, watching him hunching over himself, shivering, sipping the soup with the spoon. "Why'd you have to have a class at night? Aren't you worried about anything?" 

"True, there are a multitude of dangers that can potentially present themselves to me at such an hour, but am I really going to let something like that stand in the way of my future? This flu will pass over this weekend and I'll be fresh and new on Monday." 

"How do you know that?" 

He chuckled and started coughing again. "Ugh... After all the times I've taken care of you guys, you really think I'm going to forget? I looked forward to the moment all of you were healthy again, so I didn't have to worry anymore." 

"Gee thanks." 

"Besides, Roman's good at making us laugh, and Patton's better at cooking. I'm just..." he shrugged. 

"Hey," I took him by the shoulders and stared at him. "Just because you and I struggle a little more at expressing ourselves emotionally than the other two doesn't mean we don't notice when you're trying to be nice and caring to the rest of us." 

He blinked. "Wow. That was... vague, but I think I get what you're saying." 

"How was that-? Whatever. Where are your recording glasses things?" 

Logan pointed to his Newton cradle thing and, right past it, I saw his glasses case. "Also, if you're going as me, you should leave your hoodie at home and wear a tie." 

I froze during picking up his glasses. "Excuse me?" No. I'll take the eye shadow off, I'll wear the tie and glasses, I'll even try actually talking to other physical beings, but my hoodie stays." 

"Alright then, wear a tie," he insisted. I groaned. "Take one of the purple ones out my dresser and I'll put it on for you." 

"You have a purple tie?" I asked as I opened the drawer. In actuality, he had the whole rainbow of ties folded in that exact order, even a few rainbow ties at the very end. "Wow. " 

"The purple hair was not that bad, but I still didn't feel like I was being taken seriously," he complained. 

I mumbled, "Maybe wearing multiple neck ties..." 

"What was that?" 

"I said I'll wear the purple plaid neck tie." 

"A good choice." I brought the glasses and neck tie over to him, and he helped me look more like him. He frowned at the eye shadow and how it wasn't coming off easily, and said, "You know it looks more like I'm trying to imitate you. That's good. If anyone asks why, just say it's a social experiment and they'll likely leave you alone." 

"Sure no problem." I went to loosen the tie, but Logan cleared his throat, and I shoved my hands back into my jacket pocket. "Well, guess I'm gone." I walked to the door and opened it. 

"Hey, Virgil?" 

I paused and glanced back at him, expecting more rules or maybe a freshly printed packet of information to memorize before going, but he just motioned to his soup and murmured, "Thank you." 

I half-smiled at him, nodded, and went to his class.


	4. Anxiety and Logic #4

_Logan's POV_

After Virgil left, I sat there staring at the door wondering if he was going to be alright. The poor guy's got so much going on. Different types of anxiety, social awkwardness, a plethora of phobias... would he be alright? I finished up my soup and set it aside. I'll help him the moment he comes back... I thought before dozing off. 

\--zzz--

I woke up to clicking on a keyboard. For a second, I thought it was just me, but the clacking continued. I looked around my room and saw Virgil with a completely exhausted expression, squinting at my computer. I sat up a bit, but he didn't move. Oh, he's got those ridiculously massive headphones on again, I studied his expression for several seconds before thinking: Oh no, was my class really that bad? 

He glanced around and, noticing I was awake, he uncovered one ear and mumbled, "Hello." 

"Virgil," my own voice was hoarse from sleep. "What time...?" 

"About 9 in the morning." 

"And you're...? This whole night...?" He shrugged and looked down at the screen. "Virgil, is everything alright?" 

He slowly turned his head to me and, though I didn't really believe in all that talk about souls, I could've sworn mine left my body. "So... no?" 

He looked back at the computer and sighed, "I remembered why I don't like going to school." 

"I apologize. If I were in better-" 

"Listen, Logan, it's fine. You're one of my best friends, and I would do it again for you. I just..." he shrugged again, "...wasn't as prepared as I thought I was." 

"If it's about the material, you don't have to remember or understand it." 

"No it's... why are there so many people crammed into one room? What about the building? The school? There are so many... so so many... people..." his eyes glazed over slightly at, I'm assuming, the memory. "And to think, they all have lives? Personalities, families, inside jokes, secrets, past experiences whether good or bad..." his voice faded, but his breath started to get faster. "And they're all so loud..." 

I frowned. "Virgil, breath. Are you going to be alright? Want me to put on an animated film for you? Perhaps one of the ones you've seen 15 and a half times before? Research shows that knowing the ending gives the viewer a sense of comfort, kind of like Patton's endless supply of brightly pigmented, synthetic stuffed wild creatures." 

He glanced at me, "No, I'm..." he sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, "Logan, you're supposed to be resting. I'm alright now that I'm home again." 

Finally, I glanced down at my laptop. He glanced too and said, "I figured out how to get the recording from your glasses to your camera, and I was working on typing up what was said, then you woke up." 

"That's... I appreciate your attention to detail," I smiled at him. He smiled back, yawned, then returned his attention to the screen. "Are Patton and Roman here?" 

"I think they went out to shop or watch some movies, so it's quieter here for you to rest." 

"Wow, everybody and their thoughtfulness. Even Roman," I was doubly impressed with Roman, but I figured Patton and Virgil likely convinced him to go. Patton probably wanted to get more pictures for his scrapbook or something. My eyes drifted to the telescope and I sunk back into my bed. That's going to have to wait for another day... "I suppose I'll take advantage of this peaceful time and recover quickly." 

Virgil sounded amused, "You do that, buddy. I'll just save this here and leave you to rest."


	5. Anxiety and Logic #5

_Virgil's POV_

I sat in the living room with the other three across from me, like some kind of intervention. I yawned and looked each of them in the eyes, except nobody was speaking. I sighed, "I'll bite, what's going on? What're we doing right now?" 

Logan pushed his glasses up on his face, frowning seriously. "It has come to the attention of Patton and myself that Roman called you a villain again." 

"I didn't-!" 

Patton put a finger to his lips. "Hush. You're the one in trouble so you need to apologize for it!" 

Roman grumbled but glanced at me, frowning. 

I stared blankly at them. "Sorry, what? Roman calls me a villain all the time-" 

"But Virge-" 

"Save it," I raised a hand, shaking my head, "I know you've been trying, but you still do." 

"The question remains, what shall we do?" Logan started pacing between us. "We could ask you to apologize or beg for forgiveness, but the likelihood of you repeating this mistake again is too great to ignore. What if you insult him when he actually needs our help?" 

"But I would know!" 

All three of us stared at him. He chuckled lightly and scratched his head, "Yes, I suppose my track record for realizing that isn't very... solid," he looked down, frowning. 

"I know!" Patton jumped up, "You could write Virgil a screenplay like you did for Logan for Christmas!" 

I opened my mouth to protest, but Roman interjected, "That sounds great!" 

"But you're going to have to include Logan, for all the times you insulted him too!" Patton pointed his finger at Roman. 

Logan looked uncomfortable. "No, that's-" 

"Perfect!" Roman conjured a laptop immediately and got to work. "It will be done in no time! 

Logan and I exchanged glances while Patton asked, "Who's hungry?" 

\--*maybe two minutes later*--

Roman shut his laptop in aggravation and exclaimed, "It is too much work to try typing this thing up! So now you," he pointed to Logan, "are Arrow," and Logan's tie changed into a striped green and grey tie. 

"What-?" 

Roman turned to me, "And you are Ace!" he pointed at my jacket and my thunderstorm symbol turned into a grey ace-of-spades symbol. 

I looked down at it then back at him. "So, what is the purpose of this?" 

Roman's excitement was ebbing away. "What do you mean?" We looked at him and he scoffed, "Instead of being villains, you both are heroes!" 

I shifted my weight slightly, "I dunno, that sounds like a lot of work..." 

"How quixotic of you, Roman," Logan frowned. 

He scoffed again, "Excuse me, but you haven't even tried out your powers yet. ALA!" He waved his hand and Logan's tie jumped off his collar and transformed into a vivid green bow with black arrows. Logan fumbled but somehow caught it in time. 

Roman turned his attention to me. 

"Please, Roman, no, I'll accept your apology, just-" 

"KAZAM!" With the second wave of his hand, the emblem on my jacket jumped off and transformed into a dragon the length of my forearm with dark black scales and royal purple spine-fur, eyes, and claws. 

Logan and I stared at our new... gifts before slowly looking at each other. "This is highly impractical, but... I suppose it wouldn't hurt to, er... experience a little of Roman's dreamscape he made just for us, right?" he asked me. 

I glanced at the dragon, that cooed at me and scurried up my arm to curl into my hoodie. "That... sounds alright, I guess." 

Patton and Roman exchanged grins. Patton spoke up, "We transformed the backyard into an archery field for you Logan!" 

I glanced at Logan again, who met my eyes, before we both sprinted for the back door. 

I squinted at the scenery and saw that, somehow, he made the backyard a lot longer than it really was. There was a bullseye at the far end of the yard with painted lines in the grass for distances from it. 

"So... is this a practice field for you or something?" I asked Logan.

Except he was forming a quiver for his arrows and testing the drawstring strength. Roman and Patton followed us outside and I glanced at them. "Hold on, if this is your dreamscape, and Logan and I-" 

"Yeah Arrow and you, Ace," Roman corrected. 

"Whatever, who is the villain?" 

Patton chirped up, "Deceit of course!" 

I stared at them, feeling the tiredness coming on. "Seriously, I don't mind just accepting your apology -and the dragon- and going to sleep." 

Logan glanced at me, "Ace, you spent some time learning weapons in your youth, yes? Might you be able to assist me? Which hand should I use to hold the grip?" 

Guess it's too little too late to escape this... I walked over to him, rubbing the top of the dragon's head. "You can use either hand, it just depends on what you're more comfortable with." 

"I'm ambidextrous." 

"And?" I frowned at him. 

"That means I can use either hand-" 

"Then try it with your right and pull the string back with your left or try it the other way." I opened my hand. "Here, let me show you." 

He handed me the bow, but it turned back into his tie the moment it touched my hand. We stared at it for several heartbeats before Logan picked it back up. It turned back into a bow at his touch. "Interesting," he mused. 

I shrugged. "Alright..." I peered closer at the bow and said, "Hold the grip thingy of the bow with your right hand," I told him. 

"If I'm not mistaken-" 

"Logan." 

"Alright fine," he followed my instructions, then glanced at me. 

I came around him, pointing out each part of the bow to him. "It looks like it was made for the left-handed. Does it feel comfortable to hold?" Logan nodded so I continued, "Alright, you'll be pulling the string back with your left hand, but don't yet. You're missing something..." 

Roman jumped, "Oh right, arm brace." 

"Oh, right arm brace?" Patton snickered. 

Roman handed it to me and I carefully tied it around Logan's right forearm. "This is supposed to help you not get cut by the string. Still, bend your elbow a little, and that'll help prevent other injuries." 

"You really spent a lot of time learning this, didn't you?" Logan asked. 

I shrugged, deciding that none of them needed to know. We moved closer to the target until it was next to impossible to miss it. I helped him with his stance and stood to face him, pointing to the target. "Okay, so now, notch the arrow, then loose it at the target." 

Logan squared his shoulders before pausing and frowning at me. "You think I can't make it from a further distance?" 

"It takes practice and discipline, Lo- Arrow," Logan smirked at Roman's hopefully-temporary new names for us. "You should get a feel for this before whatever skit he has planned for us and Deceit." 

"Do you think he's going to have us try killing Deceit?" Logan asked. 

I pointed at the arrowhead, and before both our eyes, the tip turned into what looked like a toilet plunger. "I think he wants us to make Deceit look like a fool." 

"You mean more a fool than on average?" Logan asked. 

We laughed, "Exactly. Now shoot the target!" 

Logan drew the bow and loosed the arrow, completely missing the target. 

"Right... you need to know how to sight it..." I sighed. "This is gonna take a bit of time..." 

Logan's ears turned bright red, but he just drew another arrow and got ready for my lesson. 

 

>>============|>

 

If y'all have questions about aro/ace stuff, I can *hopefully* help! WE ARE VALID! <3 

Love you all! <3 

Also, "quixotic" means: exceedingly idealistic, unrealistic and/or impractical


	6. Anxiety and Logic #6

_Virgil's POV_

I'm really not sure when it happened or for how long it was, but for some reason, Logan and I were fighting a way over-the-top Deceit. He was dressed in his usual gear, except he wore a longer yellow cape over everything and was levitating before us. "KNEEL OR DON'T, THE CHOICE IS YOURS!!" He yelled out before laughing out loud.

He threw snowballs at us, but Logan and I were hiding behind a conveniently placed fallen log. 

"What is happening?" I stage-whispered to Logan.

Logan readjusted his glasses, then his grip on his bow. "It appears he's mastered the art of illusion to make it appear as though he's acquired the paranormal ability for expertly playing 'The Floor is Lava'."

"What? No, not with his fake teleporting, I mean, whose mind palace are we in that has us fighting Deceit with Patton and Roman trying to cheer us on from some stands?" I squinted through the snow to see that Patton had just finished handwriting two signs, one that said something like, "Go, Emo Best Friend!" and the second said, "Go get him TAUGHT!" 

Logan saw the signs and a flash of murderous rage passed in his eyes, likely at the intentionally poor grammar. "Certainly, this is a level of hell neither of us thought we'd reach."

"DUCK-" I yelled at him. 

"Duck-?" He asked as I motioned for him to drop. He bent down, narrowly missing a snowball that exploded on the tree across from us.

We both looked at it. "Virgil?" Logan sounded strained, looking at the exploded snowball, "Do you accept constructive criticism?" 

"Uhm... probably better than I can give it?" 

We looked at each other. His eye twitched slightly, his gaze drifted to my hoodie. "Don't you have a... living combustion weapon hidden away near you?"

"OH, DEAR ME, I'M GETTING SOOO BORED TRYING TO FIND YOU!" Deceit threw more snowballs, knowing exactly where we were at.

I touched my dragon's head, frowning. "You're right but what if Deceit takes him? Or her?" I looked at the dragon. "What are your pronouns, anyway?"

"If he takes your dragon, I'll just shoot him. Have you a better plan?"

"Demand Roman to get on his hands and knees and apologize properly?"

Logan grinned, "Perhaps after this." 

We both leapt outside our hiding places and threw our attacks on Deceit. Logan shot some plunger arrows at him and I sent my dragon to melt the ice and snow around us. Deceit looked bewildered at the turn of events and tried to form another snowball from the surrounding water. Roman then appeared before us and said, "Congratulations! What a show! How about we all celebrate with some ice cream?" 

The dragon turned back into my little symbol and attached itself to my jacket while I turned on Roman and grabbed him by the sash. "Hey, dude, WHAT WAS THAT?!"

"My apology to you?" 

"No! We live in Florida! Where did all this snow come from? And why did it look like Deceit was floating?" 

"Psh, that was completely lame. Hope we never do that again," Deceit's eyes still sparkled from the excitement. 

Roman, however, looked hurt. "What do you mean? It was fun, and since we never really experience snow, I thought it would be interesting to incorporate it into my mind palace." 

"While it was... interesting, and likely a good experience, I will admit that I don't understand how this factors into your apology to us. I, myself, would have been quite content with a nice cup of tea and a formal apology letter," Logan's bow turned back into his tie, which he set about putting back on. 

"Dude, you just saying something about at least trying to not call me a villain is good enough," I shrugged, looking at Roman. 

Roman was frowning at the both of us. "Yes, but you both spend so much time in your rooms, I figured I could wrap up this apology in with you both getting exercise and sunlight. And Deceit kept hovering around me." 

"Was not," Deceit scoffed. 

Patton came running down to us. "Wow, what a BLAST you guys!" 

Logan and I exchanged glances. Maybe we weren't thinking about it from his perspective... "Listen, Roman... it really was... fun. Perhaps, we could do something like this again?" Logan offered hesitantly. "But, maybe without the snow? Or the dragon-patch? Or the-" 

"Bow-tie?" Patton asked innocently. 

Roman and I had a hard time trying to not laugh as Logan's entire spine went rigid. His eyes narrowed, and he took a deep breath. "I'm just... I'm just going to ignore that." 

Patton giggled, "Was it too... direct?" 

"With all due respect, please stop..." Logan groaned. 

"I agree that, this," I gestured vaguely to everything, "wasn't that bad, but I will also admit that I didn't get it. I'll accept it as your version of an apology," I interrupted Roman before he could even open his mouth. "But please just try to not insult us and everyone will be fine." 

"Alright," Roman sighed. "I'm glad everyone enjoyed themselves," he snapped his fingers and the backyard came back into view. 

Deceit ran off, dramatically sweeping his extreme banana-coloured over-cape in the process, while Patton announced, "I'm gonna go make some pasta!" 

Roman yawned. "I'll go work on my next big break! You two should actually experience the outdoors more!" he scolded Logan and I before going inside.

"That was... brief," I frowned. 

"Exhausting is the word I would've used." 

"It wasn't that bad." 

"No, but I maintain that I would have much rather preferred a warm beverage or something." 

"In a bookstore, maybe?" 

Logan slowly looked towards me. "That... actually sounds very pleasant." 

I smirked at him. "And Roman DID say he wanted us to experience the outdoors more. The thing is, he never specified what kind of outdoors. Outdoors of our house could mean, well, anywhere." 

"I like your thinking," Logan smiled brightly. His eyes lit up looking far off already.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Today's chapter of cuteness was inspired by the Fanders on Tumblr who head-cannoned Deceit as telling blatant lies and the others just going with it!


	7. Anxiety and Logic #7

_Virgil's POV_

I wasn't sure how long it's been. For some reason, I never really experienced the passage of time the same as the others, but I was almost certain Logan hadn't left his room for at least two weeks except to get more coffee. Except, he isn't one to drink coffee. He's a tea drinker. I had brought him some food the past few days, but when I bring a new plate, the previous one looks untouched. 

"Oh don't bother Dr. Strange in there," Roman told me with a dismissive wave of his hand. "He's Logan. Would 'logic' really be so dumb as to overwork himself?" 

"I dunno," Patton chimes in, slightly worried. "It wouldn't be the first time he became hyper-focused on something, but maybe you should let him figure it out?" 

I ran my fingers through my bangs, "I mean, yeah, this isn't the first time he's done this, but do you two remember him being this reclusive for this long?" 

"You're right... It's usually Cruella de Virgil that's never out his room! No offense." 

I narrowed my eyes at him. "Didn't we just go through a whole thing about you not insulting us?" 

"I said no offense!" 

"Too bad, I'm offended, and you aren't helping." 

Roman pouted, but Patton jumped right in again, "Virgil, how about you go talk to him? You and he seem to get along pretty well, and I think Roman and I might make things worse on Logan." 

I glanced between them uncertainly before nodding. I went to Logan's room and knocked on the door. The distant typing of a laptop was the only thing I heard, so I peeked into the room and saw Logan hunched over his desk. The plate of food I had brought yesterday still sit next to him, untouched. 

"Logan?" 

His fingers paused over the keys before continuing again. 

I walked closer to him, looking around the room. Nothing seemed to be wrong or changed, but it also looked like he hadn't cleaned or slept at all. "Logan," I said more seriously. "How long have you been doing that?" 

"A few hours I think." 

"What day is it?" I turned and faced him, crossing my arms. His back was still facing me. 

He kept typing. "It's the 21st." 

"It's the 8th, Logan. Of the next month. It's been over two weeks. Have you slept?" 

Logan's fingers paused for a longer time. "I... might have dozed a few times." 

"Logan look at me." He didn't move, so I turned his swivel chair towards me and leaned on the arms, face-to-face with him. "You can't be doing that. You need sleep." 

"No I..." he frowned, narrowing his eyes. "No, I need to finish this." 

"How can you finish it if you're sick or dead?" 

"I'm not dead." 

"No, but you're on your way," I gripped the chair arms. My palms were starting to sweat and I felt like I was going to puke. "You're the smart one, don't you know how long the average person can be sleep deprived before dying? Just over a week. It's been two of them for you." 

"I must be-" 

"If you dare say some big word synonym for better than average, I might have to knock you back to average-ness," I scolded him, "You should be taking better care of yourself! If you're the only one who can do this project thing, then you need to make sure you're up to par. Water, food, SLEEP. You need all those things so you can keep doing what you need to do." 

His eyes widened slightly, and he finally met my gaze. He must've seen how pale I was, or the stress I was starting to feel on his part, or maybe the seriousness in my eyes. He took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "I suppose a few hours of sleep wouldn't be detrimental." 

"Save your work, rest, eat, then come back to it, alright?" I pulled away. 

He turned in his chair and looked back at his screen. His eyes started darting around, and he put his fingers back on the keyboard, "Maybe I'll just fix-" 

I moved his arms aside and sat down in his lap. I took his face in my hands and made him look at me. He jumped slightly, his arms on either side of me, reaching for the keyboard. I pushed us further away from the desk. "Don't," my voice cracked slightly. "Just go to sleep." 

His gaze focused on mine before a single tear fell. "Virgil..." 

"You can work on it tomorrow after I've seen you get some rest, eat a good meal, and drink some water. Until that happens, I forbid you," I focused on staying strong, not crying, for him. It felt like my insides were fighting each other. 

"You... forbid... me...? From working...?" 

"Shut up when you're talking to me!" I frowned at him. 

He huffed out a laugh. "Okay Virgil, I'll go get some sleep." I stood up and helped him up. He took one step, swayed, and crumpled into my arms. 

"Logan!" I yelped, doing my best to catch him. I helped him to the ground and made sure he was still breathing. A few seconds passed and he opened his eyes, looking very confused. "Why am I on the ground...?" 

"You passed out," my voice was shaking more than I wanted it to. "Don't move just yet, you need to catch your breath." 

"I've... I've never experienced syncope before..." 

"What?" 

"Fainting." 

"I told you you needed sleep," I wiped at my eyes before he could see them. He looked up at me, frowning. "I'm going to help you up slowly so you don't... syncope again." 

The corner of his lips twitched upwards, but he looked concerned about me. I slowly helped him stand up. He mumbled, "Wow, I really don't feel that well..." 

"Thank you for that Dr. Obvious," I grumbled right back. We slowly made our way to his little window seat and I helped him get comfortable. I opened up the window, and a nice spring breeze drifted in. 

He took his glasses off and set them on a shelf above his head before cuddling into the fuzzy blanket I had tucked him into. "This is... really... nice..." he mumbled. Soon, he was asleep. 

Except, I was still worried. Syncope happens with low blood sugar and can happen with stress, such as staying awake for way too long, but it can also happen from not eating enough. I glanced at the uneaten food from yesterday and quickly cleaned it up for him. In the kitchen, I didn't say anything to the other two, but grabbed a bottle of water and some of Patton's cookies, then came back and put them on his desk. 

He was shivering when I next glanced at him, so I closed the window. But he kept shivering. I frowned, then crawled in next to him, wrapping my arms around him. "You dumb, nerdy idiot," I mumbled to myself. My voice quaked, "You buffoon..." he curled closer to me, and I buried my head into his hair, failing at not crying. 

\---

_Logan's POV_

I woke up feeling warm and comfortable. A soft, steady "lub-dub" sounded in my ear. I closed my eyes, pulling it closer to me. 

"Logan?" 

My eyes flashed open, and I sat up quickly. The room span, and Virgil's face appeared, completely unfocused. He put his hand on my shoulder. "Hey, steady now, you need to eat something." He put something into my hand that felt like a water bottle. 

"Virgil? What are you doing in my room?" 

"Stopping you from overworking yourself like the idiot you are." 

"Excuse-?" 

"Just drink some water," Virgil guided the bottle to my face. I took a few tentative sips before trying to find my glasses. Virgil reached behind himself and put them into my free hand. My dizziness had faded a bit, and the nausea decreased the moment my eyes focused through the glasses. 

Virgil was staring at me with apprehension and stress. The dark circles under his eyes didn't appear to have make-up overlaying them. "Virgil..." I spoke softly, "What happened?" 

"You stopped eating and you stopped sleeping so you could work on your stupid little project." 

My spine went rigid. "It is not stupid." 

"I thought you were working on a thesis or some other really big university thingy. But no. It was a stupid, insane project that literally ALL of us could have helped you on!" 

"Virgil, it is very important-" 

"Working on an entire world on Minecraft is not more important than YOUR HEALTH!" He shouted suddenly. I blinked, shutting my mouth. He was breathing raggedly, tears starting to fall, "Do you know how worried we were?! How worried I was?! Scratch that, did you even care? Because it didn't look like it when you were letting yourself waste away." 

My mouth was hanging open at him, especially when I realized that, no, I didn't even think that far. "Virgil, I-" 

"No, don't give me any excuses. Just promise me you'll think about actually taking care of yourself before being sucked into a... project... alright?" he hiccuped and rubbed at his eyes. "And eat this stupid cookie. You'll feel better." He shoved a chocolate chip cookie towards me, which I picked up gingerly. 

"Alright Virgil. I sincerely apologize for my behavior the past few weeks, and I promise to be more aware of it from now on." 

He looked at me with a semi-guarded expression before sighing and wiping his eyes. "I guess I'll accept that..." 

I smiled at him and took a bite of the cookie. "Thank you," I spoke with my mouth full. 

He hesitated before half-smiling at me. "Don't do that, you'll choke."


	8. Anxiety and Logic #8

_Virgil's POV_

This was the one day out of every month I really looked forward to. I saved up my money, spent hours, days, trying to figure out where Roman was going to take us next (with Logan's help, of course), and finally, that big day comes. And I am usually completely blindsided. 

"Whose ready for our mandatory out-of-the-house adventure this month?" Roman sang out. Patton was bouncing up and down with excitement, practically clapping his hands. Logan was double-checking what was in his bag, hopefully including some water and a first-aid kit. I was tugging at my jacket sleeves, wishing our destination wasn't going to be something... Roman, like when he took us out to pretend we were all dating each other. 

"Aww, come on! This is a grand adventure!" 

"That we take every single month?" Logan asked. 

"Ugh, to different locations!" Roman put his hand on his hip, frowning at Logan, then the rest of us. "Why is nobody else excited?" 

Patton, still bouncing on his feet, raised his hand, "I'm excited!" 

"Where are we even going?" I asked. The last few months were flashing through my mind. Roller coasters, sky-diving, going to the animal shelter but being unable to pick one for ourselves because we wanted them all. I think I was justified in being... somewhat nervous. Logan and I exchanged glances, those experiences reflected in the both of our eyes. 

Roman cleared his throat and started to pace. "Today! We shall cast ourselves forth and enjoy..." my body felt tight and I had to remind myself that chewing my nails would make them hurt later, "The Mall!" 

Logan looked confused while Patton was cheering. "The... Mall? Why?" 

"Well!" Roman paused his pacing and faced us. "The Mall has a little animal store for Patton to enjoy [Patton: "Hehe, yay!"], it's got at least 13 different clothes shops for my Superior Sense of Style [Logan and I rolled our eyes simultaneously], it's got a bookstore or two for the Professional Student over there [Logan: "Hmph."] and it's got a Hot Topic for Virgil!" 

Everything came into sharp focus. "A... a what?" 

"You get to go to the mothership, for at least a day, buddy!" Roman exclaimed. "You know, for all your dark-clothes-wearing and satirical needs." 

If he was making fun of me, I hadn't a clue. My mind was too busy trying to calculate the ratio of how much I could buy there against how much I could carry. I took a breath in, my mind racing to all the possibilities. The air, for some reason, tasted better. The things in our house looked nicer. I'm sure if I was outside when the news hit, I would be surrounded by singing creatures or something. My palms were starting to feel wet, and my wallet felt warmer in my jeans pocket. 

"I have a quick question for you, Roman," Logan fixed his glasses, starting to frown. "Since the four of us will be spending the day at the Mall, and we four are supposed to stick together, how are we going to allot our time? It seems fitting that we should schedule how long we will be there, divide that by four, then have each of us plan out where we want to go and what we want to see in our quadrant of time." 

My heart started beating faster and my eyes darted to Roman. 

Roman looked troubled as well. "You're right... Gah, curse it we do have to stick together." 

"Well, there's nothing wrong with that!" Patton chimed in. "I would love to see the animals, but I think I'd be better off getting a book about animals with Logan or getting another cat hoodie with Virgil or Roman!" 

"Ah, perfect! Now we each get-!" 

"No," I groaned, "You are not seriously going to let Patton give up his time because you want to make your butt look bigger than a boat, are you?" 

Roman began blushing, "Look, it was a good idea-" 

"Virgil's right, we are all going to pick one store, spend an hour and a half there, then go to the next one," Logan said. "I am very thankful you didn't choose something like bungee jumping or some other nonsensical and dangerous adventure like you usually do." Roman huffed and crossed his arms. "Now," Logan looked at us, "I think, since we seem to agree on the amount of time, should we go by whoever first or where the store is first?" 

"And why can't we just go our separate ways and meet up at the food court?" Roman complained. 

"Because, this grand adventure that you were so eager for is supposed to occur with the four of us together as a sort of bonding experience," Roman muttered to himself and looked aside. Logan said, "I do not mind helping all of you with your outfits since it appears that Roman would likely want to visit all 13 of these clothing stores-" 

"Your outfits are so boring!" Roman complained. "It's always, 'tie with this' and 'suit jacket with that'." 

"Have you ever seen me in a suit jacket, Roman." 

"...Touche, it is constantly hot, but I wear long sleeves all the time!" 

I glanced down at my jacket, deciding to say nothing. 

"And Virgil and I have our different hoodies!" Patton chimed in. He gasped, "WE SHOULD GET MATCHING OUTFITS!" Roman looked up, suddenly interested in our conversation again. 

"Eh..." I began. 

"If that would satisfy you, I would be willing to participate. But we'd all have to agree on something," Logan was looking at Patton and Roman. 

I tugged at my sleeves and shoved my hands in my pockets again. "Can we just go to the Mall and decide then?" 

"I'm driving!" Roman and Logan shouted simultaneously. 

"Falsehood, I'm driving!" Logan snatched the keys and the three of us followed. "You can man the radio if you desire, but your driving is still a solid F." 

\--- 

We got to the Mall, finding it chock full of people and children of all ages and sizes. I hunched in on myself and scooched closer to Logan and Patton. Roman was already several steps ahead of us, strutting like he owned the place. He turned to us and started rambling about the stores and the game plan. My chest was starting to feel heavy. We all agreed with whatever was coming out his mouth. I took more breaths in, but that wasn't helping. Logan glanced at me, then put a hand on my shoulder. "Deep, slow breaths, Virgil. I brought an extra pair of earbuds for you in case this happened." 

I nodded and took the earbuds he gave me. I put on some loud alternative, flipped my hood up, and grabbed his arm. He nodded back and we kept walking after Roman and Patton. 

We went to store after store after store, watching Roman and Patton try on all sorts of clothes. At one point, Logan finally joined in the fun and I was left to help Patton carry the brunt of Roman's purchases. "Are you having fun, kiddo?" 

I glanced over at him and shrugged, "It isn't exactly my... thing. It's fine, but I don't know..." 

"You should try on some clothes! Like this one!" Patton pulled out a bright pink and green rainbow unicorn T-shirt. 

I hesitated, "Gee... that looks... no." 

"No? But kiddo, you haven't even tried it on!" 

"I... I'm alright, thanks." 

Patton frowned then refolded the shirt and put it back. Logan and Roman came back, arguing over a bag of clothes. "I'm telling you, you wear too many ties as it is!" Roman was scolding Logan. 

Logan looked bored, "And I've told you on numerous occasions that you ought to consider wearing more. Ah, Patton. Virgil." 

Patton beamed at them. "Is everyone ready to go?" 

I looked down, taking my time to pick up the piles of bags. Roman swept over and grabbed them before I could finish. "Yes, I think that'll be fine for a month." 

I shrugged and followed them out, tuning their discussions (arguments?) over the clothes that were purchased. I let my gaze wander until... gasp... there. My precious. I hadn't even realized I had stopped until Logan looked back and asked, "Virgil?" 

"Oh boy, we lost him," I faintly heard Roman sigh. I started walking towards it. My favourite place besides home and that one super hidden place in the library that not many people knew about. Until Roman caught my arm. "Now, emo boy, we were just going to the car to drop things off then the cafeteria to eat. We can come by-" 

"If you love me, let me go," I pulled against him, but his grip tightened on my arm. I glanced down at his hand then up at his face. "Or, you know, just keep your hand right there until I collapse into a claustrophobic anxiety attack." 

Roman frowned, "You need to eat." 

"Get me something from the cafeteria, I'll still be there, just-" 

"Yeah, let him go Roman," Logan intercepted. "We've been dragging him wherever we wanted to go, even after forgoing our set plan. The least we could do is let him enjoy his..." 

"I suppose..." Roman's grip loosened, and I found myself somehow, magically, inside the Hot Topic. 

I took a deep breath, gazing at everything with stars (skulls? Excitement!) in my eyes. The pressure in my chest from earlier faded. "Ah... home..."


	9. Anxiety and Logic #9

_Virgil's POV_

So... everyone's away. I'm just here. 

By myself. 

My little lonesome. 

Everything's quiet. Like... I'm expecting a grand-person clock gonging and scaring the crap out of me. It felt weird. I felt, I dunno, weird? I'm not sure. Restless? Bored? 

I can actually hear my thoughts. Thoughts! Do I sound like this to other people? What if I scream in my mind? What, there's no volume change?! 

Okay. Weird. I fiddled with my thumbs, looking around my room. I was sitting on my desk with one of my legs under me and the other one swinging mindlessly. Everything was put away; even my gaming chair was folded up under my bed. Nobody else was here... Oh, right. There's, like, an entire rest of the house, isn't there? 

I chewed on my thumbnail, thinking, before finally wandering into the hall. Roman's door was wide open with crumbled drafts littered all over the floor and outfits discarded on every conceivable surface. My eyelid twitched and I forced myself to look away, unless I wanted to fall into the trap of cleaning his whole room. 

I kept going and saw Patton's door about halfway open. His was a little bit neater, but the inside looked a lot smaller than it really was, since he had so many stuffed animals crammed against the walls and memory books and boxes everywhere. Again, the urge to clean was there, so I forced myself away. 

Logan's room was next, and it was surprisingly left open. I peeked in, thinking (hoping?) he was still here. I wanted to know, objectively of course, why I felt so... odd. Except the snake was there. "Aren't you supposed to be hiding in your own room, Deceit?" 

He jerked his head up towards me, quickly slamming whatever book he was looking at shut. "Oh, Virgil," he sounded unconcerned. "I was just doing some research." 

"On?" 

He shrugged. "Things." 

"Being vague is my job." Besides me being unsure of if you're even lying or telling half-truths. "What are you doing here? Did Logan-? Who am I kidding, he wouldn't." I sighed. "Just go back to your room." 

He huffed and got up, trying to be sneaky with the book in his hand, but just before he passed me, I held out my own and said, "If you'd be so kind." 

"But I'm-" 

"Done with it? Good," I stared at him. 

He frowned back at me. He handed the book to me then left without another word. I watched him retreat out the door before looking down at the book he had. It was Logan's personal memory book... Images of him, Patton and Roman before I came about. I felt my chest get heavy. I put the book back in it's hiding spot that I definitely hadn't ever seen before and left. 

I went to the kitchen counter and sat there, staring at nothing. I was trying to think of something else to occupy my time, but the three of them without me really hurt. Of course, that's what they were doing now. And I suppose Deceit wasn't there either, but... no, I'm not going to cry about it. I'm not going to worry about what Deceit was doing. I'm going to do something. 

I got up and sat in the living room, plugging in one of my favourite games. I played it for what felt like hours, but everything in me felt more empty than one of Logan's jam jars. Maybe I just felt bottomless, like Roman's ego? Ugh... what an annoyance... this feeling, and the thought of Roman's ego... 

I wasn't sure how long it'd been, but the moment I heard the front door open, I paused my game and bolted up into my room. Roman's and Patton's loud, excited voices sounded, but I couldn't understand what they were saying yet. It got quiet suddenly and Logan's voice sounded, "The TV is on." Good one, Captain Obvious, I thought. 

"Nice observation, Sherlock," Roman commented. 

Logan sounded impatient, "We didn't leave it on." 

"No, but Virgil and Deceit are still here right?" Patton asked. 

"Ah yes, the two known Dark Princes," Roman sighed. "I wonder what they're talking about." 

"Could you stop?" Logan growled. "You know Virgil isn't that bad. If it weren't for him reminding you of the deadlines I set, you'd still be a scared little wannabe wondering about 'what ifs'!" 

There was a pause as Roman muttered something and Patton said something like, "Wow." Steps sounded loudly up the stairs until Roman's door slammed shut. I flinched from behind my door before putting my ear back to it. Patton sounded like he was trying to calm Logan down, but Logan's steps were getting louder. 

I jumped away from my door. My room blurred before me. Hide, I need to hide! Sweat formed on my palms. Part of me asked, Why, though? His steps paused. My insides felt uncomfortably warm. Knock knock. "Virgil? Are you in there?" 

My chest was moving rapidly, but I felt like I wasn't getting any air in. My hands felt tingly. I dove into my bed, back to the door, head covered. The door handle clicked open, and Logan's soft voice sounded in my room, "Virgil?" 

Hiding. I'm hiding. He can't see me. I'm asleep. Sleeping and dreaming. Nothing to see here. 

The bed shifted as Logan sat down next to me. "So, uh... Not quite sure how to do this whole... emotions thing, but... I apologize for not asking if you wanted to join us. I remember you saying something about being uncomfortable in crowds, so I figured you wouldn't want to..." his hand fell gently upon my shoulder. "Virgil? Your respiratory rate is much higher than usual. Are you having a panic attack?!" 

I curled in further upon myself and mumbled, "I'm fine...!" 

"No, you aren't." He moved closer to me and, wrapping the blanket around me, pulled me into his arms. Comfort and warmth radiated from the movement. He put his head on mine and rubbed my back. "It's alright, I'm here for you." I turned, burying my face in his shoulder. My whole body felt tingly, and with his words, I reminded myself to count breaths. 

It took longer than I wanted, but I finally relaxed enough to pull away. "Thanks, dude..." I mumbled. 

"Mind letting me in on what made you panic?" Logan asked. "If you're alright enough to talk about it, of course." 

Should I tell the truth or should I keep it to myself...? I kept my gaze down, fiddling with my thumbs again. "I saw Deceit in your room... he was looking at the book you, Roman, and Patton made." 

"That's fine. Well, the part about him being in my room isn't, but why did that...?" He let the question go, probably trying to prompt me without making me feel confined. 

"Because..." I stood up, gripping the blanket to myself, shaking my head, "No, never mind. It's stupid." I gave him a tired half-smile. "Welcome back, Logan. Glad you three made it home safe." 

He watched my expression and my fidgeting for a couple seconds. I started to chew my thumbnail, when he asked, "So your panic attack wasn't because you were over-thinking about Roman, Patton, and I before you became our friend?" 

I froze, completely not meeting his gaze. 

He sighed and stood up. "Virgil, meeting new friends is always a learning curve. The four of us may not get along all the time, but we are still friends." 

"And what about Deceit?" 

"What about him?" 

"Well, I mean, he was the one going through your things, and sure the five of us haven't hung out, but would you consider him a friend too? If given time?" 

Logan frowned. "Perhaps, but he's a liar. I doubt much of a solid friendship will develop from that." 

"That's not true," my stomach flipped. "Not entirely false, but it isn't true either." 

He looked intrigued. "Do tell?" 

I fiddled with my sleeves, tugging them down over my hands. "He does represent and show the lies we tell ourselves, or Thomas tells himself, but we could learn from him. Weren't you the one who was saying something about seeking knowledge when one gets hurt?" Pride flickered across Logan's face, but he still was paying attention seriously. "All I'm saying is, can't we learn from the lies we tell ourselves to better understand the lies other people tell themselves and tell to us?" 

"Wow, that is... well done. I hadn't ever thought of it that way. A great point indeed," Logan smiled at me and pushed his glasses up on his face. "Just like how you initially showed up as the literal source of anxiety and stress, we soon learned that you were necessary to everyone's life and we four learned how to work together. It is entirely feasible that we could learn how Deceit's particular skill set assists Thomas in his everyday endeavors." 

I shrugged. 

"Alright Virgil, we will make a point of trying to include him more often, if he so desires. I do not promise good results, but I promise we'll try." Logan put his hand back on my shoulder. "Are you doing alright now? Would you like me to do anything for you?" 

I looked down, "No, I think I'm okay now. What happened between you and Roman?" 

"Oh, that reminds me!" Logan motioned for me to follow, then went back downstairs. I frowned, following him. 

Patton looked up, grinning ear-to-ear. "What's up, kiddo?" he asked, trying to tie a rainbow pop-tart cat tie on himself, and failing incredibly. 

Logan sighed, "Patton, I told you I would assist with that," he walked over and fixed it up so Patton looked nice and professional. Well, as professional as one with a Nyan Cat tie could look. 

Logan stepped aside and Patton threw his arms out. "Virgil, what do you think?! It's perfect right?" 

I smiled. "Yeah it looks great." 

"We got you some as well!" Patton turned back towards the table. "They were selling them-" 

"What? No, you know I'm not a... tie person," I frowned, backing away. 

"Oh..." Patton turned around and, in his hand, was a tie with my favourite character from my favourite game. "It was Roman's and Logan's idea to get us all at least one tie each for a formal event, and Roman reasoned that if we all dressed well, we could justify having more fun ties, so..." he looked down at it, "If you don't want it-" 

"What? No, it's not... well, I suppose since you three went through so much trouble..." Patton and Logan exchanged grins and Logan helped me put it on. "Hm... I feel smarter already. But you still haven't told me what happened between you and Roman." 

Logan frowned. "Well, he wanted that tie and I told him it was for you."

"And it's been awkward since!" Patton said. "But don't worry, Roman'll bounce back!" 

"If you say so..." I looked down at the tie, smiling. I hope he isn't actually that mad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So, these are headcanons of mine. I'm not sure if Deceit's character arc will actually go this way (I really hope it does), but I am also a fan of the headcanon that Deceit talks in lies and half-truths or in metaphors, so I tried to implement that here. Hope you all liked it!


	10. Anxiety and Logic #10

_Logan's POV_

"I'm telling you, I can do more push-ups than you, so can you knock it off?" Virgil strode past me, plopping down on the couch. He picked up the TV remote and turned it on. 

Roman was laughing. He walked past me, stood in front of Virgil and crossed his arms, staring down at him with a smirk. "You? Best me? At push-ups? I think not. I train nearly every day to someday find and rescue the prince of our dreams!" 

"Setting aside all of our dislikes over putting our bodies through most physical exercises," I glanced quizzically at the both of them before looking at Roman, "I bested you in a rap battle, I would have expected that would have taught you to not underestimate your perceived opponents." 

"Exactly," Virgil sighed. "So could you move? My show is going to be on soon, and I don't want your Royal Butt-hurt Tush blocking my view." 

"Cute, I am the view." I shrugged and looked back at my book. "I'm going to need you to prove it, Virge," Roman stared him down. 

Virgil looked exhausted. "Fine. Whatever. After the show." 

"Excellent! I shall go prepare! One mustn't exercise without warming up!" and he went up to his room. 

I glanced up at the TV before looking to Virgil, "So... you exercise?" 

"You write poems?" 

"It is a simple mathematic calculation between beats and syllables. And, of course, utilizing synonyms to better match the-" 

"Sounds good," he mumbled, turning back to the TV. 

I frowned, looking between him and the TV. "Is something... troubling you?" 

He looked at me for a long moment before returning his attention to the TV. 

"Alright." I kept frowning and looking at him, but when his show started, I could literally see him tune everything else out. Oh well. 

\--- 

Roman came pounding down the stairs only minutes after Virgil's show ended. For some reason, Roman thought it was fitting for him to be in his work-out gear, including his palm-padded fingerless gloves and his neon rainbow headband. "You and me, emo boy!" he pointed at Virgil. 

Virgil was sitting, staring dazed at the TV. His eyes flicked to Roman, and with a sigh, he shut the TV off. He stood up and walked past Roman to the clearing between the living room and the kitchen. "Very well. Let's do this at the same time, and the first one to stop loses." 

Roman fidgetted. "You aren't going to warm up?" 

"Who said I wasn't warmed up?" 

I frowned too. "Virgil, it almost looks like you're about to fall asleep." 

"Funny." He glanced at Roman. "Well?" 

"Excellent, this shall be over quickly!" the two of them got into position. 

Patton ran down the stairs, "Wait! I want to referee!" He was already dressed like a ref, with his cardigan still tied around his shoulders. 

I suppose I can enjoy a little break from studying, I thought to myself. I closed my book and sat opposite of Patton. Roman and Virgil faced each other, in plank position. "And, go!" Patton clapped a hand on the ground. 

They both lowered themselves to the ground, their upper arms parallel to the ground, before pushing back up. Roman glanced at Virgil, but Virgil's bangs hid the fact that he was staring straight at the ground looking focused. Patton wrote out a tally mark, and they simultaneously did another push-up. Another tally. Push-up. Tally. Push-up. Tally. 

I got bored. 

I went back to my book and finished up the chapter. When I came back, both boys were sweating. Roman's arms were shaking, but Virgil appeared to be as solid as can be. Patton was cheering them both on, tallying up still. His napkin had marks on both sides, and he had to grab a second one to keep up. Roman growled, "No! I will not be defeated!" Virgil didn't say anything. 

Nearly five minutes passed, and Roman collapsed to the ground, whining about how bad his arms hurt. Virgil slowly stood up and started walking back to his room. "Wait!" Roman shouted, leaping up. He grabbed Virgil by the sleeve. "H-how? How are you able to do that many? When?!" 

Virgil turned back, sweat smearing his eyeshadow so much it ran down his face like tears. "Listen, I'm the one constantly planning ahead of events. If something bad happens? I probably figured it would happen. So, I've been trying to train up enough that I can grab you three and run, if we needed it." 

I stared at him. "Virgil, that's... very thoughtful." 

"Awww! Thank you, Virgil!" Patton squeed. 

He looked away, muttering, "Mostly, I figured Roman would be the heaviest, with his big ol' ego." 

"That's so- HEY!" Roman placed a hand on his chest. "Rude!" 

"But still. I get us in trouble a lot, I should also be strong enough to get us out, right?" 

"Not necessarily!" Roman exclaimed. "I mean, you don't always get us all in trouble! Sometimes it's Patton, sometimes it's Logan, sometimes it's me!" 

Patton and I looked at each other before staring at Roman. Roman glanced at them. "What?! What'd I say?" 

"Thanks guys. I'm just gonna sleep now." Virgil continued up the stairs. 

I speed-walked over to him. "Hey, Virgil?" 

He paused at his door and looked at me. "Yeah?" 

"I'm not sure when we would be in such a dangerous situation that you would be required to grab all of us, but I would like to thank you for training up, even though I hope it never happens." 

Virgil half-smiled at me. "Exercise is supposedly also a good stress-reliever, isn't it Logan? Besides, what better way for me to eat an entire cake by myself than having a high enough metabolism to allow me to do that?" 

I paused and took half a step away from him. "You terrify me." 

He chuckled. "Well, food is good. Exercise is good. Saving friends is good. Smelly, sweaty Virgil is not good." 

"Right... well... good." I nodded, and Virgil disappeared into his room. 

_Aww. He does listen to my rants about exercising and mental health!_ I smiled to myself. 


	11. Anxiety and Princey #1

_Virgil's POV_

I walked down the stairs to see Roman staring forlornly at the newspaper in front of him. I frowned and rounded the corner. "What's the matter, buddy?" 

"Nothing." He was subconsciously touching the butt of his pen against his teeth, his eyes darting back and forth between words. I looked down and saw a sudoku puzzle in front of him. 

I glanced back at him. "Are you still mad that I'm stronger than you?" 

"No." He wrote a number down, then went back to crouching over the coffee table. 

"A 5 can go here," I pointed. He glanced at my finger, at the puzzle, then wrote a 5 there. I frowned some more. "Are you sure...?" 

"Yeah, I'm fine, Virgil. What do you want?" 

"You seemed a little... glum. And that's my job." 

Roman glanced up at me, frowned, then glanced back down at his puzzle. "I'm fine. Just thinking." 

"Over numbers?" 

"Yes, and a pen." I stared at him a little longer, before shrugging. I turned away, but his hand touched my jacket sleeve. "Virgil, wait." 

I looked back at him. He put his pen down and ran his fingers through his hair. "Listen, I know I can be a bit... overbearing at times. Maybe I'm too happy or I want too much to escape reality or something, but you know I'm there for you, right?" 

"I know that. Even though you call me a villain sometimes. Or you make fun of Patton, and he doesn't even realize it." 

"Okay, okay," Roman faced me more. "I'm just struggling with something right now." 

"What?" I sat down next to him. 

"I feel like I'm just... waiting for inspiration to strike, and nothing's come up yet." 

I scratched my head, "So, wait, are you asking me to change my name and hit you?" 

He laughed. "No, thanks. I was actually hoping you and I could do some sort of roleplay so I can get creative again." 

"Oh, uh..." 

"That would be perfect, wouldn't it?!" Roman jumped up. "Wait real quick, I'm going to grab my notebook in case something really special happens!" and he was up the stairs before I could say anything extra. 

I stared after him, a settling feeling at the bottom of my stomach. "Great. Sounds good." I picked up the pen he left and filled in a few more numbers before he hopped over the couch and flopped by me. "Okay, so the play I'm thinking of..." 

\---

I roleplayed with Roman for several hours, until the both of us got tired. The only reason why I knew we were tired is that Patton woke me up with his excited squealing and Logan trying to get him to shut up. I rubbed my eyes, raised my head, and something hit the top of mine hard. Something jumped next to me, and a loud, "Oof," sounded. I looked towards the noise and saw Roman's own sleepy face staring back at me. We stared for a second before Roman leapt up and away. "Thank you for all your help, Virgil! I think I know how I should go about the play!" He grabbed his notes and was gone. 

"Uhm... what just happened?" 

Patton spoke up, "You and Roman were sleeping on the couch together!" 

"It appears the two of you were very focused on a project and dozed off," Logan added. "Patton, don't make it sound worse than the reality of it." 

"But they were so cute! We rarely see them sleeping!" 

"Falsehood. Roman dozes at any lecture and Virgil dozes in the sunshine like a cat." 

"So cute!" Patton was hiding his smile behind his cat-hoodie sleeves, eyes wide and sparkling. 

I yawned and rubbed my eyes. "Well, I hope I actually did help him..." I glanced up the stairs, but the door to Roman's room was already closed. Oh well...


	12. Anxiety and Princey #2

_Roman's POV_

It was after the performance and in the middle of the meet-and-greets when I started to feel... overwhelmed. There were just too many people and things to look at. Too much movement. Too much noise. I excused myself from the room and went outside. 

The air was still disgustingly muggy, but it was much quieter. I looked up at the stars, trying to figure out why my mind seemed to be in such a haze. It isn't like I wasn't used to something like this happening after every show, but for some reason, tonight was simply too much! 

"Hey buddy, you doing alright?" I looked over and saw Virgil leaning against the wall next to the door. 

I shrugged and faced away from him. "Never better, My... Dude." 

He chuckled, "Decided to not insult me?" 

"Too tired to do that." 

"Yeah," Virgil walked next to me and peered up at my face. "Looks like you got spooked. What happened?" 

"I don't know!" I ran my fingers through my hair. "I was doing just fine then everything got overwhelming..." 

"Oh," Virgil nodded. "Sensory overload, where there's too much movement and sound and touching?" 

"Yes... how did you know?" He gave me a look as if he were going to get sarcastic, when I held my hand up and said, "Right, well anyways, I figured this would help." 

He nodded and glanced up at the stars too, before looking back at me. "Is it? Would you like me to leave?" 

"Yeah... I mean no. I mean... yes it's helping but no, you don't have to go. It's kind of nice to have someone here who gets it." 

"I know right?" He sounded sad, almost resigned. 

I looked over at him, but his expression was peaceful. "Hey, bud... listen, I know I'm... uh... I can be a little..." 

"Egotistical?" 

"Confident, okay? Let's just go with confidence. Anyways, if you need someone, I wouldn't mind being there for you." 

He chuckled. "This isn't because you need somebody besides Patton to listen to all your stories, is it?" 

I scoffed, "Uhm, excuse me, but all of you should listen to my stories. My stories rock! But if you wanted to listen to them, I wouldn't mind retelling you some." 

He kept smiling as if he thought I was trying to get at something else. But even if I was I wouldn't admit it! Not that I am! ...well, no matter. 

"Sure, Roman. I'll keep that in mind." 

"Thanks." 

We stood there next to each other staring at the stars until Logan popped open the door, "There you two are! People are wondering where the star of that whole make-believe ensemble went!" 

I cringed. "Theatre, Logan. It is theatre. And I will be right there." 

"Virgil, you ought to come inside too, Patton's been wondering where is... son is," Logan looked like he was in pain. 

Virgil chuckled. "Coming, dad." He walked over to the door and opened it up more for me. "My Liege," he half bowed. 

"Oh, I could get used to this," I grinned and walked in. 

"Please don't, Prince Romano." 

"Aaand that grate feeling just left." 

Virgil snorted. "Good one, Roman."


	13. Anxiety and Princey #3

_Roman's POV_

It was beautiful! Sparkly, shimmering, and just as straight as I was. I had to show Virgil. 

I raced out my room and jumped down the stairs to the basement, ignoring Logan's warning to slow down. I reached the door and pounded on it with my fist. "Virgil! It's Prince Roman! Open up!" 

I heard a soft groan from the other side of the door before shuffling happened. Soon, the door creaked open and Virgil's shadowed eyes peered out at me. "What," he muttered. 

I grabbed his hands and tugged him up the stairs. "Hurry up, this is important!" 

He nearly fell, making a noise when he caught himself. "Huh? What's so important that you-" 

"You'll see~!" I ran up the steps with him in tow. Logan yelled at me again, but I was back in front of my door. I turned to Virgil and grinned. "Are you ready?" 

"Uh. Sure. I guess?" 

I flung the door open. Virgil stared blankly into my room, narrowing his eyes. "Am I... am I supposed to see something impressive?" 

"Wha-? Yes! Look at the circular thingy in the middle of my room!" 

Virgil walked inside, looking at the floating rainbow circle thing. "Yeah... cool. Looks like a mirror." 

"Yes," bouncing on my heels, I refrained from feeding into the growing impatience inside of me, "But put your hand in it. Touch it, Virgil!" 

"Ew, no. The last time I did something like that, my tush was frozen to the park bench and I had to wait for Patton to try and set a fire under the bench to warm up enough to get free." 

"Ugh, fine, I'll touch it for you then!" Still holding his hand, I reached out with my other and put my hand through the mirror thingy. 

Virgil gasped and jerked back slightly. "What the?" he looked behind the thing and seemed to pale. "Roman, where's your hand?" 

"That's what I want to show you!" I walked through the thing and pulled him through, ignoring his panicking state. "Welcome, Virgil, to a new world!" 

He was breathing heavily next to me, but when he paused and looked around, I think he forgot how to breathe again. "Whoa... what... what is this?" 

"I don't know!" I grinned at him. "C'mon, let's go explore it!" 

He dug his heels in when I tried to drag him with me. "Hold on, Roman. I don't think this is a good idea. We should go get Logan and Patton and-" 

I turned to him and took both his hands into mine. "Hey, I'm both a Prince and a Knight, Virgil. Do you really think I'm going to let anything happen to you?" 

He looked at me suspiciously. "You pull pranks on me all the time." 

"W-well, okay, you have a point. But I'm not going to let anything happen to you here. Okay? Can you trust me on this?" 

His eyes darted between mine and the surroundings. He returned his gaze to me and gave me a small nod. I grinned and looked around. "I was here the other day and I discovered I had some elemental powers! You should try some!" 

He paused. "Hold on, how did that mirror thing get into your room?" 

I shrugged. "No clue." 

"So you're telling me a portal to some unknown magical dimension thing just appeared in your room and the first thing you do is go into it?" 

"Well... yeah, I guess that's right." I frowned. "C'mon Virgil, what's the problem? I thought you would like having some magic powers for a little while?" 

"Yes, Virgil, why don't you just relax for a moment?" a third voice asked. 

"GAH!" I reached around and whipped my sword out, shoving Virgil behind me. "Who said that?!" 

The air in front of us shimmered and, within seconds, an ambiguous individual was standing there. Their arms were crossed, and they were smiling at the two of us. Virgil gripped the back of my coat while peering suspiciously over my shoulder at the stranger. 

The stranger flicked their head to the side, their dark brown hair flopping out of one eye temporarily to reveal a bright pink eyebrow piercing. They wore purple lipstick, gold eyeshadow, ripped jeans, a plain stripped tank top, and the coolest adventuring boots I thought I had ever seen. I lowered my sword slightly. "Uh, hello stranger." 

"Roman," the person nodded at me. "Nice to see you again." 

I fidgeted. "Right. Yes, well, I suppose we should be leaving..." 

"So soon? I thought you two were here to finally claim the throne." 

Virgil asked, "Throne? What throne?" at the same time as I said, "Ooo, a throne?" 

Mr. Dark and Brooding then muttered, "Roman, can I talk to you for a second?" 

The other person laughed. "I'm just messing with you guys. Of course, the throne is mine. And I'm not about to let two cute little boys take it from me." 

Virgil snapped, "And just who are you?" 

"Phoenix," the person raised their eyebrows. "I'm the... royalty here." 

"Hmph," Virgil stepped around me and faced them. "What do you want with us?" 

"I was hoping you would bring everybody, but I suppose two will do. You see, my arch enemy is attempting to take over my crown, and I am in dire need of some knights to help me fight her off." 

"A royal struggle? Superpowers? An evil enemy?" I sheathed my sword and shook Phoenix's hand. "We're in!" 

"Roman, I think-"

"We should get started right away? You're right, Virge!" he wrapped an arm around my shoulder and grinned at the royal highness. "How about I convince the others to join us and you show Virgil around for a bit? I'll be back!" 

Phoenix smiled, relief in their eyes. "That sounds like a wonderful plan. Follow me, Virgil, I'll show you how to summon magic here." 

Virgil sighed but went with Phoenix.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (I envisioned the portal as a rainbow-bordered oval-shaped window, but let me know what you first thought it was!)


	14. Anxiety and Princey #4

_Roman's POV_

I burst through the portal, my bedroom door, then down the stairs to the living room. "PATTON! LOGAN! YOU'LL NEVER BELIEVE WHAT JUST HAPPENED!" 

Patton and Logan looked at me. Though Logan looked somewhat concerned, Patton's expression brightened almost instantly. "What is it, buddy?" he asked. 

"A portal appeared in my world leading to another world with a really cute royal person and magic and Virgil's there with them learning how to summon magic and there's an evil chick and the royal person needs us so pack your bags or whatever and let's go!" I breathed heavily, grinning brightly. 

They looked somewhat startled. They exchanged glances, Patton's being excited still, but Logan's being concerned. Logan turned back to me, "You mean to inform us that you abandoned Virgil in an unknown world with unknown rules with an unknown person, and unknown evils?" 

"Why do you both ask me obvious questions?" I huffed and looked at Patton. "You'll come, right? There's bound to be a bunch of cute animals to rescue from the evil chick's grasp!" 

Patton started to look concerned. "Roman, you should have brought us at the same time, and know we're broken up?" 

"Then let's go fix it by getting there together!" 

Logan jumped in, "Do you know anything about this portal? How long is it going to stay open? Who opened it? Why did they open it? What if this is a trap to separate us?" 

I fidgeted, guilt starting to creep into my mind. "Stop, you guys, you're going to make me nervous. Let's just go, find Virgil, then we can start figuring stuff out, okay?" 

They nodded and, within 10 minutes, Patton had dragged Logan up to my room. Logan was protesting, insisting they would need a tent and sleeping bags in case they couldn't find a place right away and had to camp. Patton became distracted by the portal, tossing some of Logan's essentials through, and trying to catch them on the other side of my room. I grabbed their hands, telling Logan, "I'm sure the royal person would rather us sleep in their castle than outside," before I hauled everyone through the shimmering portal. 

Phoenix and Virgil were standing there waiting for our return. Phoenix still wore their striped tank top and ripped jeans, and Virgil wore an open, royal purple summoning robe over his own clothes. He had the hood of his jacket and his robes up over his head, and his hands were in his jacket pockets. "'Sup?" 

"Virgil, don't you know better than go through interdimensional portals?" Logan asked, frowning. 

He shrugged. "I tried telling Roman that we should get you guys before going in, but he ignored me." 

I frowned, then. 

Phoenix stepped forward before I could get any words in. "Peace, Logan, I don't mean any harm. I merely wish to ask for your assistance in a matter I don't think I can resolve by myself." 

"And who are you?" Logan readjusted his glasses, looking them up and down. 

Phoenix smiled. "Of course, I don't expect assistance before I've introduced myself and explained why I believe you should help me," they raised a hand to Logan, "My name is Phoenix, and I am the royalty here." 

"It seems you already know my name. Logan Sanders," Logan shook Phoenix's hand, then motioned to Patton, "This is Patton Sanders. And I'm sure you're already acquainted with Roman and Virgil?" 

"Yes, Virgil is quite adept with controlling the magic here," Phoenix smiled at him, and Virgil averted his gaze as if he were embarrassed or something. "Roman is highly adept at handling himself around a sword. I look forward to becoming better acquainted with the two of you as well." 

"Wait, when did you get a chance to see me practice?" I looked at them. 

Phoenix looked almost sheepish. "I wanted to be sure I was opening a portal to the right place. I apologize in advance, but I do not carry the same dream powers as my sister does." 

Logan took out a small notebook and wrote something in it. "And who did you say your sister was? And what is your royal title? And what kind of enemy are we facing?" 

Patton jumped in, "But wait, what are we adept at? Why do we need to fight?" 

Phoenix looked startled. "I never said anything of my sister before this. As for my title, 'Your Majesty', 'Your Highness', or 'Sire' all work just fine for me. I'm, in essence, the 'King' and 'Queen' of this world. But since I've asked for your help, Phoenix is just fine. As for my sister, she is the enemy we are facing, and it takes quite a bit for her to pause long enough to consider having a talk. She prefers battles and to be impressed, and I know you'll be able to impress her." 

"We will, will we?" Logan frowned. 

Patton gasped, horrified. "We're fighting your sister?" 

"Yes, she is a formidable foe." Phoenix frowned, shifting their weight between their feet. 

"Why is she the enemy?" Logan glanced down at his notebook again. 

They sighed and twisted their eyebrow piercing, staring at the floor. They looked to Logan and said, "She decided she was going to be the villain because she's bored." 

Logan sputtered, "Bored? Bored. As in, she ran out of good, interesting things to do?" 

"I guess so. She made her own villainy fortress and moved out before I could ask her what she was doing." 

"Oh boy," Logan rubbed the bridge of his nose. Patton looked really concerned. Virgil looked like he was trying to not fall asleep standing. 

I stepped forward, smiling brilliantly. "We shall assist you, Your Highness Phoenix!" 

The other three looked at me in surprise, but I wasn't worried. Helping people is what good people do, right? And we are a good person!


	15. Anxiety and Princey #5

_Virgil's POV_

After everyone got settled, I pulled Roman to the side and muttered, "Hey, bud, I know you've probably been having a bad time, but seriously? Fighting this dude's sister?" 

"Virgil, Phoenix is genderfluid, they aren't just a dude." 

"You know I use 'dude' as a genderneutral term. Everyone is a dude to me, dude. Besides, you're avoiding my question." I crossed my arms, blocking the door from him. 

He sighed. "Yeah, I know, but Phoenix needs our help." 

"I get that, but you said nothing to the rest of us. To me. And now we're fighting the sister of royalty? Isn't she still royalty?" 

He threw his hands up and glared at me. "What's the problem, Virgil? Is it because you're jealous you aren't royalty too? Or is something else going on?" 

I blinked and took a step back. "Hold on, what are you talking about?" 

"You and Logan have been spending so much time together, it's... kinda strange, don't you think?"

I scoffed. "What, are you saying I can't be friends with Logan?" 

"No, I'm not-" 

"That's what it sounds like, Roman." 

He huffed, bumping his fists onto his hips. "I'm not saying you two can't be friends, but why have you been avoiding Patton and me? You do realize we still exist right?" 

I stared at him. "Is this why you brought all four of us through a portal thing? So we can do a family bonding thing?" 

He shoved his fists into his pockets and walked to my window. I blinked after him and frowned. "Roman, nobody is drifting apart. We are all still friends. All four of us. I'm sorry we didn't realize you and Patton felt left out, but that still doesn't explain how we're going to go against this sister person." 

Roman kept staring out the window before half glancing back. "I can't be strong and outgoing all the time, you know. Just like Logan can't be brilliant all the time, and just like you can't be an emo pessimist all the time." 

"I'm not... I'm cautious, not a pessimist." 

"Same difference. My point," He turned more fully to me, a single tear falling down his expressionless face, "Is that I'm not always strong, and I don't want you guys to know it." 

I stared at him, my arms dropping to my sides. I walked to him and wiped his tear away before cupping his face in my hands. "Roman, you don't have to be strong all the time to be the way you are. How many of your favourite movies talk about how bravery includes understanding your fears and continuing despite them? Strength works the same way." I half-smiled at him. 

Some more tears fell from his face. His eyebrows creased together, and his mouth trembled. "It's okay to feel weak," I wiped the tears with my thumbs again, "but it isn't okay to wallow in it. You're Prince Roman! Nobody can replace you, and even if they tried, I would call out their BS." 

His expression broke even more. He reached up and covered my hands with his. He squeezed his eyes shut and dropped his head onto my shoulder, quietly sobbing. I wrapped my arms around his shoulders and comforted him. 

\---

The next morning, I woke up to Roman snoring in my ear. I wasn't sure when during the movie we dozed off, but I could already feel my muscles protesting the movement it would take to freshen up. I yawned and nudged him awake. "Roman, we have a villainess to defeat. C'mon, get up." He mumbled and wrapped his arms around my torso, snuggling his head into my chest. I fidgeted, poking his forehead. "Roman. Roman. Ro. Man. Dude. Ugh, wake up." 

I tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but he grumbled, "Five more minutes." 

"No, now!" 

Someone knocked on my door just before Logan cracked it opened and peered in. "Oh, that's where he's been." He disappeared into the hall, yelling, "Patton! I found Roman!" before swinging the door wide open and walking in. Roman stirred and stretched, yawning so hard that tears appeared in the outer corners of his eyes. He rubbed them away and squinted at the door. Logan stood there looking like a sorcerer. In both arms, he carried the oldest looking book I think I've ever seen or imagined. 

Patton's footsteps increased until he appeared next to Logan with dogs yipping behind him. "ROMAN! Where have you been?" 

"Just enjoying a movie..." 

Logan's eyes narrowed. "While you were... taking a break... Patton and I were practising our new abilities in this strange world with Phoenix and discussing the best way to deal with his sister. Do you have any ideas as to what we should do?" 

Roman readjusted his shirt and ran fingers through his hair. "She's bored, isn't she? We should go in and see if she isn't bored anymore. Then if she is, we'll make her... not bored. Or something." 

Before Logan's eyes could twitch, I said, "She likes to be impressed, right? And battles? Maybe we could put on a mock battle between the four of us and impress her?" 

"A battle?" Patton knelt down next to his dogs and hugged one of them. "But I don't want these little guys to get hurt!" 

"Unlikely," Logan glanced down at them. "They are the size of trucks, I doubt much would hurt them. As for your idea, that sounds great. Except Patton, myself and you, Virgil, are not accustomed to combat." 

I snorted and rolled my eyes. Logan looked surprised. "Oh? Perhaps you and Roman should duke it out for the princess?" 

"Or," Patton stood with a messy bundle of dreadlocked fuzz, "Maybe we shouldn't fight at all?" 

"Preposterous, we should expect the worst and prepare for it." 

I stared at him. "Okay, O Great Wizard, what magical power did you learn that makes you want to fight a princess so much?" 

Logan's eyes sparkled. He shifted the weight of the book he carried and opened his other palm to the sky. "I'm blazing!" and in his palm, a fire burst to life. 

"Woah!" Roman was up on his feet. "That is super cool! You're like the fire version of Elsa!" 

The fire vanished as Logan closed his fist and sighed. Patton snickered, "That's what I said!" 

Phoenix appeared in the doorway and knocked lightly. "I apologize for the intrusion, but I think we should all sit down for lunch and discuss the best way to help my sister back to the good side." 

"Lunch?" Roman and I asked in unison. 

"Yes, lunch," Logan frowned at us. "It's already past noon. You missed breakfast and the training sessions this morning." 

"And the both of you were very quick learners!" Phoenix smiled at Patton and Logan. 

Patton gushed and summoned more dogs to him. Phoenix's smile started to look a little strained. Roman rubbed one of his arms and glanced at me. I shrugged. "Alright, let's get our food and plan on, I guess."


	16. Anxiety and Princey #6

_Virgil's POV_

The five of us sat down at a circular table. Roman was wide awake, excitedly muttering about the "Sanders of the Round Table" and insisting that we all should get swords. Phoenix gently convinced Patton to send the dogs outside while everyone else ate, and Logan was thumbing through the huge book he'd had with him. I stared down at the empty plate in front of me, my mind back at home. 

"Virgil? Hello? What do you think of a skull-inspired sword hilt for you?" 

I blinked and looked over at him. "Sorry?" 

Roman frowned. "Are you doing alright?" 

I shrugged, returning my gaze to the plate. "Just thinking." 

"Everything will work out, kiddo!" Patton smiled brightly at me. "You'll see?" 

I shrugged again and slouched in my seat. 

Phoenix got all the food brought out to us, telling us what each dish was, before looking at us. "So, what are you all thinking of?" 

"Virgil and Roman are going to fake fight each other. Patton and I will capture your sister. I will arrange a trial, and your sister will stand at it. Sound good?" Logan tucked the napkin into his collar and picked up the fork and knife. He looked at each of us, who looked back in surprise. 

Roman raised his hand, "Uh, question. Virgil and I are going to fight?" 

"And I'm going to help capture the sister?" Patton fiddled with his thumbs. "How exactly are we going to capture her?" 

Phoenix rested their chin on their hand, looking at each of us. The only thing that changed was their eyes as they followed the conversation. 

Logan took a bite of food and pointed the fork at Patton. "You can summon things. Distract her with your dogs, and summon a net around her." 

"But what about you? You said you were going to be helping me capture her?" 

"Yes, I will engage her in knowledge about the dogs you summon." 

Roman crossed his arms. "But if Virgil and I are supposed to distract her by fighting, but you're going to distract her by talking, then why do we need to fight?" 

"It's obvious. She enjoys battles." 

Roman narrowed his eyes, "Then maybe I should fight you." 

"Preposterous. That wouldn't be a battle, it would be a slaughter." Roman started to look proud, until Logan added, "Then we'd have to figure out how to heal you." 

I watched the conversation escalate into an argument between Logan and Roman with Patton jumping in occasionally to try and de-escalate it. Phoenix and I met gazes, but I looked away and stood up. Phoenix had already shown everyone where his sister's villain lair, so it was up to us to make a plan and get there. Unless we couldn't make a plan because everyone was too busy fighting. Or we just didn't need a plan. I stood up as quiet as I could and left. Nobody seemed to notice. 

What good will come of us arguing amongst ourselves? 

\---

Phoenix joined me outside the castle a couple minutes later. We glanced at each other, but I looked away first. "Listen, Virgil-" 

"Phoenix, you don't need to console me," I crossed my arms, and leaned against a wall. 

They watched me, frowning a little. "I was just going to point out that you haven't eaten much today. You really should keep up your calorie intake if you're planning on channelling magic here against my sister." 

I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. I'm just going to go there and do a little recon. See what exactly is going on there. Then I can come back and help the rest plan the best way to deal with her." 

"I'm coming with you." 

Laughing, I shook my head, "No, you're not. I don't want it to seem like we're planning something against her, and have her attack us unreasonably." 

"But... but we are planning-" 

"Listen, Phoenix, just stall the others until I get back. Let's say... I'll be back by tomorrow. If not, then you all can come get me. Okay?" I turned to them. 

Phoenix frowned, watching my eyes. Finally, sighing, they nodded. "Fine. Tomorrow. Play it safe, Virgil." 

I nodded to them and started walking to the castle. Recon, Virgil? Really? I sighed again.


	17. Anxiety and Princey #7

_Roman's POV_

It took Phoenix physically separating all of us with magic before we stopped arguing. Logan's face was red with anger and Patton looked ready to fight the both of us. Phoenix stared each of us in the face, eyes narrowed. "Are we done fighting like a bunch of children?" 

I muttered, "I'm not the child." 

Logan snorted. 

Phoenix set us back down into our seats. "We need to formulate a plan against my sister, and you three knuckleheads are too busy fighting against yourselves to do it." 

Patton glanced around. "Wait, three? Where's Virgil?" 

"He's, uh, in the bathroom," Phoenix nodded before turning to each of us. "Let's go one at a time and figure out what we want to do." 

Logan said, "I said it before. Virgil and Roman do a mock battle. Patton will further distract her with his dogs, and I will capture her." 

Patton frowned. "I think we should all just talk to her, and it shouldn't be a problem!" 

I spoke up, "Maybe we should find a dragon, capture it, bring it to her, fight it, then when the battle is won and she asks for my hand in marriage, I'll agree on the condition that she stops being the villain and comes back home!" 

The others stared at me, then turned back to each other. Phoenix said, "Well, she does like to be impressed, but if we capture a dragon then fight it in front of her, she'll wonder why we didn't just take the beast out first. Besides, Roman, my sister isn't into the whole marriage scene. She wouldn't even consider it unless she's had a long stable relationship with you. Besides, she's still a child." 

"How old are you?" Logan asked. 

They shrugged. "Old enough, I suppose. Either way, this is good." They pointed to Logan. "Your idea of having multiple distractions is good, but if you are aiming to impress her with a battle and dogs, she will get suspicious. Patton, talking to her might work, but it might not until she's captured. Roman, if you were to capture a dragon, that would be awesome. However, dragons can easily be created in this world. It wouldn't be very impressive. I'm sorry." 

Logan huffed in annoyance. "So, what do you propose?" 

I looked around, frowning. "Seriously, Virgil doesn't take this long in the bathroom." 

Logan and Patton exchanged looks. I stared at Phoenix, who started to shift their weight. Were they starting to sweat? "Phoenix," I stood up, "Where is Virgil?" 

The others stared up at them too. They blinked a few times then sighed. "He's going on ahead. Everyone was arguing so much that he thought he could do it himself." 

I shoved my chair back and started heading to the door. "Where are you going?! You don't know where they are!" Phoenix yelled. 

"I'll find someone who knows, and I'm going." I slammed the door shut behind myself. "Now if I were a real Disney prince..." I opened my mouth to start singing when a horse trotted up to me and flicked her mane. I blinked. "How convenient. Thank you, m'lady," I leapt up and trotted off out of the castle, before going into a full gallop. The wind hit my face, and the pit in my stomach seemed to dissolve a little. Man, I could get used to this! 

\---

Even now, I have no clue how the mare knew where Phoenix's sister's place was, or who Virgil was, or anything. If you asked me, expecting a serious answer, I would tell you, "Duh, I'm Prince Roman!" But in reality, I would be just as befuddled as you. 

I dismounted my ride and approached the little hut. It looked like somebody spent time slapping twigs and mud together until it sort of resembled a living space. "Uhm..." I approached it and... well there wasn't a door and nobody was inside. I looked back to the mare, but she was gone too. "Hey! Wait! I thought we had a moment, m'lady!" I growled in frustration. "Great. The horse stranded me." 

"Roman?" 

I looked up into the trees and saw Virgil with a flower crown over the top of his head. I blinked a few times, but the image didn't fade away. "Virgil? Where'd you get the crown?" 

He shrugged. "Phoenix's sister." 

"What? I thought she was a villain now?" 

"There haven't been any heroes in a while and she got bored." 

I half chuckled. "Go figure... So... where is she?"


	18. Anxiety and Princey #8

_Roman's POV_

"So... where is she?" 

Virgil glanced behind me. I turned, but nobody was there. "Virgil, are you messing with me?" I scanned the area behind me and looked down. A little girl, probably no more than 6 or 7 was staring up at me. She seemed to be contemplating something pretty serious because the space between her forehead was crinkled and she had a hand on her chin. 

"Uhm... hello young lady!" I knelt and offered my hand. "I'm Prince Roman. What is your name?" 

She put her hand in mine and said, "Princess Gryphon. A pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Sir Roman." 

"Sir Roman?" 

"The Prince is in the tree above you. He has informed me that you are a Knight, so you must go by Sir and not Prince, no?" 

I glanced up at the tree, my eyelid twitching. Virgil was grinning back. Freaking Cheshire cat. I turned back and forced my smile to stay put, "Of course I am Sir Roman. Hey, mind if I ask why you decided to become a villain?" 

She scoffed and took her hand back. "A lady never directly answers personal questions!" 

Virgil spoke up again, "And princes don't wear flower crowns?" 

She looked up at him. Her eyes brightened. "You are right, Prince Virgil, I can do whatever I want." 

I cringed, though I had no idea if it was from those last words or "Prince" and "Virgil" spoken with all the sincerity of a young girl. 

Virgil hoped down and approached us. It wasn't just his head that was adorned with flowers. They were woven into his long purple locks, into the stitches of his jacket, as a necklace, and even as small rings on his middle fingers. "You can do whatever you want. Regardless of your gender or the role others expect of you. Just be good to yourself, be good to others, and do what makes you happy." 

She bounced up and down, "I want to make flower gowns!" 

"That sounds like a great plan, Gryphon!" 

"I want you to model them!" 

I snorted, but Virgil shrugged, "Sure, why not?" 

I 'm so glad I wasn't drinking anything because the words "spit take" immediately popped into my head. "What?" 

Virgil flicked his gaze up and down my physique before dismissing me with a hand wave. "Begone, jealous knight. I'm to be the model in this princess' shows." 

I sputtered, feelings I couldn't voice bubbling up inside of me. Virgil winked at me, but I seriously couldn't tell why. Was he goading me more? Did he want me to be angry? Wait... what just happened? Like, seriously, I thought we were going to be fighting an evil sorceress??


	19. Anxiety and Princey #9

_Virgil's POV_

Princess Gryphon had summoned a royal chariot and we were riding back to the castle. Gryphon filled Roman in on how she and Phoenix had a disagreement, so she ran away to play the villain. Roman was currently sitting across from me, staring at his feet, and I still couldn't figure out what was my favourite part... his expression when he saw my flower crown, his expression when Gryphon called him a knight, denying his prince-ship, his expression when he learned that I called myself a prince, or his expression when he learned that Gryphon was just an upset 7-year-old girl who wanted her sibling to play with her. 

Now, he was sitting sullenly with his hands in his lap and his shoulders down. 

"Come now, Roman, did you really expect a magnificent battle against good and evil?" I leaned closer to him.

He glanced at me, pouting. "I was at least hoping for one."

"Is Phoenix going to play games with me?" Gryphon stared between the two of us, eyes brimming with hope and tears. 

I patted her head. "Of course, though the two of you should try to come to an agreement when we get there, okay?"

"I want Phoenix to play a guard to my Supreme Evil Self!"

Roman half-smiled at the young girl before staring at his feet again. I frowned, but neither of us made a move to talk about it. 

\---

We finally made it to the castle, just as it looked like Logan, Patton and Phoenix were getting ready to come find us. Phoenix stared at us in surprise as the carriage stopped. Gryphon hopped out and grinned shyly at them. "Hi Phoenix..." 

"You... did you get into a fight? Is everything alright?" Phoenix took her by the arms, looking her over everywhere. "Are you hurt?" 

"What? No, I'm fine. No fighting." She stared up at Phoenix, almost glaring at them. "You are to be my loyal evil guard!" 

They looked taken aback. "I'm sorry?" 

"Wrong! It's 'Yes, My Supreme Overlord!" 

Blinking, Phoenix said, "Y... yes, My Supreme... Overlord..." even adding in a waist-bow. 

Gryphon's expression brightened immensely, and she ran inside. We watched her go until Phoenix turned to us. "How...?" 

"Turns out, she just wanted someone to go along with the game she wanted to play. I told her that the two of you should come to an agreement about that kind of stuff later," I told them, smiling. 

Patton looked relieved. "So we don't have to fight anyone?" 

"What a shame I can't put my plan to use..." Logan straightened his glasses, then clapped his hands together. "Well, boys, it's time for us to go home." 

Phoenix bowed to each of us. "Of course, thank you... I'm glad it wasn't eventful... I'll make the portal to get you home now." 

A flash of colors appeared next to them before stabilizing, and an image of our place came into view. Logan glanced at Phoenix. "Do try not to use any more portals, will you? You may not get us next time you do. And thank you for your hospitality." He walked through. 

"Thanks for having us!" Patton waved excitedly to Phoenix, leaping through with his dogs. 

I put a hand on Roman's shoulder. "Thank you for accommodating us, Your Highness. I'm glad everything worked out the way it did." Roman was still silent, but he nodded to Phoenix and stepped through. I watched him go, frowning a little. 

Phoenix noticed. "He seemed... a little put out. Is everything okay?" 

"Our world doesn't exactly have magic in the same way yours does, and I think he was excited to use them on a perceived villain. He'll get through it though, I'm sure!" The drop in my stomach told me I wasn't actually sure. I faked a smile and stepped through the portal. It vanished a second after I did, plunging the four of us into the dimly lit living room. 

Logan sighed. "While that was... exciting... I'm going to continue working on things upstairs." 

Roman glanced at him leave. Patton looked at us, "What do you kiddos want to have for dinner?" 

We didn't say anything, and Patton fidgetted. "I'll... make mac and cheese!" 

I turned to Roman and took his arm, "Hey is everything...?" 

He glanced at my arm but tugged it out my grasp. "Fine, Virgil. I'm just fine," he grumbled. Maybe he just needed some time? He walked back to his room. I fiddled with my jacket sleeves before trying to let it go. 

Yeah, he just needs a day or two, and he'll be fine...


	20. Anxiety and Princey #10

_Virgil's POV_

It took more than a day or two. 

Actually, it took somewhere near two weeks for me to fully realize that he was still not okay. It isn't that I wanted him to be down in the dumps for that long, I just sort of... forgot? That there was a problem? I wasn't trying to forget! But Logan needed help with his telescopes, then Patton's dogs kept peeing everywhere and next thing I knew, I was training the dogs at the same time as I was mapping comet trajectories. And I was thinking about getting a tattoo or two of the flowers Princess Gryphon wove into a crown for me, which had died within days of coming back here. 

Now I was standing in front of Roman's door, wading through the mess of memories I had, trying to find when the last time I saw him happy was. Have I ever seen him happy? Oh boy... I think it's only been two weeks...? I wasn't sure. A couple of Patton's dogs raced past me yipping. I was still staring at Roman's door. What should I even say? Is there anything I can say to make him feel better? 

I raised a hand to knock on his door, but hesitated. My stomach flipped around. My skin felt clammy. I wiped my palms on my jacket and tugged the sleeves down. My arms felt like they were vibrating. I heard something behind his door move. Next thing I knew, I was inside my room, the sound of the slamming door echoing in my mind. I blinked several times. "Dang it..." 

I turned back to the door. "Okay Virgil, you can do this. It's just a question to ask. How's it going? Yeah, that's the question. Now just go over to his door and ask it." My body didn't move. I looked down. "Hey. You. Do the thing. Move. Move now. Open your door." I sighed heavily. "Put your hand on the handle, it isn't going to bite you-" 

The door opened. I yelped, jumping backwards. Logan stared at me, confusion on his face. "Virgil? Is there someone else in here, or have you taken to self-communication?" 

"I uh..." I cleared my throat. "I was going to go ask Roman how he was..." 

"Patton and I have noticed that you've been hovering near his door since we've been back." 

"Yeah just a little bit." 

Logan's eyebrows creased together. "Virge, it's been a month since we've come back." 

I gulped, looking around for some proof. Has it really? Where's my phone? 

He walked in and put a hand on my shoulder. "Virgil, do you need someone to talk to? I can find an objectively clear solution to something that may be troubling you, but not unless you communicate with me." 

"Oh, I'm just... worried about Roman." 

"I'm sure he's fine. We are here to discuss you." 

"Thanks Logan, I appreciate that, but my concern is about Roman. I just want to know if he's okay." 

"Why wouldn't he be?" 

I readjusted the drawstrings on my hoodie. "Well, he wanted a huge magical battle where he won, but he got a sad little girl." 

Logan tipped his head. "Then give him a battle." 

"I don't want to fight him," I sighed. "I wanted us to be past that." 

"How mature of you," Logan smirked. 

I blinked and looked back up at him. Logan's eyes flashed yellow. I narrowed my own, sighing, "Deceit what are you doing?" 

"Just checking in," he winked, and his Logan imitation faded. "Perhaps I could help?" 

"Are you saying that because you think you can actually help, or because you want to make it worse?" 

He shrugged. I rubbed my temples. "On the one claw," Deceit chuckled, "Are you still anxious to talk to him?" 

"I guess not..." We exchanged looks. Deceit tipped his hat and left. I frowned. Was he actually helping...? Whatever, I should go talk to him. In a little bit... I have something else I need to do first. 

\---

The following day, I walked out to Roman's door and knocked hard on it. "Roman? It's Virgil." 

"I'm not here." 

I chuckled. "C'mon, let me in. I have a gift for you." 

The door creaked open slightly, a bright gold chain eye-level with us. I blinked and leaned down. "Roman?" 

He stared back under the chain as well. "I haven't cut a hole in my door to accept donations and gifts yet. What is it?" 

"Something that can fit in a door-sized hole." 

He frowned at me. "I don't want to open the door, Virgil. I want to be left alone." 

My smile faded. "Alright, yeah, I can understand that..." I brought out a thin rectangular box wrapped meticulously in animal paper. "Logan and Patton helped me wrap it..." 

He glanced at my hands. "You have a lot of bandages on your fingers Virgil." 

"Yeah... Logan and Patton kind of took over the wrapping when they saw them." I smiled, "It's no problem. I hope you enjoy your gift." I turned and left before he could do anything else. I heard his door close quietly, and I sighed. I really hoped he liked it. 

\---

I had just started drifting off when I heard my door fling open and slam into my wall. I jolted out of bed, brandishing my pillow as a weapon. "WHAT?! WHO?!" 

Roman grabbed my hands around the pillow, staring at me with all the stars in his eyes. "THAT WAS THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIFT ANYONE HAS EVER GIVEN TO ME EVER! WE MUST REENACT IT!" 

I stared at him, glanced at the time. "Roman it is three in the morning." 

"I know, and I'm surprised you're asleep already!" 

"I'm not..." I yawned. "I almost was." 

"Virgil, we've got to reenact your story! It is just-! The characters! The drama! The beyond epic fighting! I could almost taste the action!" 

I blinked, then smiled shyly. "You liked it?" 

"You wrote an EPIC POEM about me! The main character is me, right?" 

"Yeah, you seemed kinda bummed about our adventure in that magic world thingy, so I wrote it as if it were more exciting." 

"True, I do wish it were more exciting, and this epic poem captured what I was hoping would actually happen to us!" He hugged me tightly. I gasped, feeling my composition book digging into my chest from his robes. 

"Uh... Roman," I strained. "Squeezing..." 

He let go, "Right! Get some rest, we've got plenty to do tomorrow for this to become adapted into a play!" 

I grabbed his wrist before he could escape. "Listen, Roman. I'm glad you liked it, but I kind of wrote it just for your eyes..." 

Understanding crept into his eyes. He blinked several times, grinning ear to ear. "In that case, this will get a special place in my room. Where I can always see it and get inspired! Thank you Virgil!" He hugged me tight again, then vanished down the hall to his room. 

I smiled, a weight lifting from my heart. I wasn't sure if that would work, but now I think I deserve some sleep...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, having a sweet is not only acceptable but necessary! But if you remember the rule of diminishing marginal utility, the sweet will be more enjoyable. Love ya! 
> 
>  
> 
> _Also, I almost have everything caught up on here from Wattpad so, woo!! XD_


	21. Anxiety and Morality #1

_Virgil's POV_

I was woken up when one of Patton's dogs shoved their nose in my snoring mouth. The little bugger danced around, thinking my flailing around and yelling was fun. 

Patton came racing down the stairs. "Virgil?!" 

I shuddered and stared at the beast. "Patton, why is your dog in my room??" 

"Since when was our living room your room?" he chuckled. 

I looked around, frowning. I rubbed at my eyes again, but the room didn't change. "Oh..." 

Patton let the dog out and sat by me. "Virgil, is everything okay? Have you had a chance to rest? Like, actually rest?" 

I stared back at him. His smile slipped and he crossed his arms. "Virgil, I am surprised at you. You constantly get after the rest of us to keep our health in check, yet you don't even bother to make sure you're well rested? Not today good sir!" 

"But I was resting." 

"Taking a nap on the couch is absolutely not resting! I could get Logan in here to tell you-" 

"No! I mean, he's in the middle of something. Probably." 

"Perhaps a play from Ro-" 

"N-no, he'll just want us all to join in." 

Patton frowned. "How about I make you some tea and we go watch a movie or something?" 

I stretched and glanced at the time. "Patton, it's the middle of the day. Let's just walk the dogs." 

Patton cheered up. "Yeah! I'll go round them up!" 

\---

Within a half an hour, the two of us were walking side-by-side at the park with the entire pack of dogs scouting ahead. "Look at how much fun they're having!" 

I squinted at them. "How many dogs do you have again?" 

"We have-! Uh... hmmm... I don't remember..." 

I glanced at him. Shouldn't we get a bigger house for them? Or at least a bigger yard? I don't know how often they get to have this much space to play... I pulled out my phone and started tapping away. 

I could feel Patton's eyes rest on me for a minute. "It... doesn't really seem like you want to be here... I know! I'll go get some toys so you can play fetch with them!" and he ran out to play with the dogs. 

"H-huh? Wait, Patton-!" but he was already tackled by some of them. I paused and glanced back at my screen. 

"Looking for a small farm for your fuzzy children? This property has plenty of space for cats, dogs, and even horses!"


	22. Anxiety and Morality #2

_Patton's POV_

Virgil's question stuck with me. Just exactly how many dogs do I have? I remembered conjuring a bunch of them when we were with Phoenix and Gryphon and that I brought some with me, but what was "some"? I got to my feet and whistled for them, and they all came running. They barked and paced around me, tails wagging and eyes bright. I pointed to each of them, counting. 

We had five huge mutts and a small dachshund. _Only six? I could have sworn... maybe they stayed with Phoenix..._

"Wait, Patton!" I turned and saw Virgil jog up to me. "I'm sorry, it isn't that I don't want to be here-" 

"There are six of them, Virge! But I don't know how they're still here after the portal closed. Aren't they magic? Doesn't our world not have magic?" 

Virgil blinked and looked at each of the dogs, mentally counting them. He blinked again, "The little one woke me up this morning..." He frowned and scratched his head. "I... I don't know actually. Maybe we should try contacting Phoenix and ask them." 

"That's a great idea! Let's go do that!" 

Virgil grabbed my arm, "Wait, Patton. Hear me out, okay? Because Roman told me that he felt left out when Logan and I were spending time together..." 

I tipped my head at him. "Are you wondering if I feel the same way?" I grinned, "Nah, don't worry Virge! I get it! Sometimes dynamics shift and you feel closer to someone for a little that you hadn't before!" 

Virgil's eyes kept darting across my expression before he finally let loose a small smile. "Well... okay when you put it like that..." 

"So how are we going to contact Phoenix?" 

Virgil let go and shrugged. "I dunno. We can figure it out when the dogs have had enough fun." 

\---

I opened the door for the dogs, who all rushed in and found their favorite places to chill. "Yo, Ace!" Virgil and I looked at the stairs to see Roman waving a purple dragon patch to Virgil. "Wanna hear something surprising?" 

Virgil narrowed his eyes. "I'm already surprised that you have that patch... isn't that from when Logan was Arrow?" 

"Yeah! Turns out Arrow wants to practice his archery some more, but he wanted you to be there!" Roman walked towards us. 

"Oh... well actually I... uh, I was going to-" 

I patted his back, "Don't worry about it, Virg- I mean, Ace! Go have some fun! We can figure it out when you get back!" I smiled at him. 

_Liar._

His eyebrows creased together. "You sure Patton?" 

"Of course, buddy!-"

_Liar._

"-Roman, you should go with them and practice your drawing skills! You always talk about how 'bad' your drawing is, but I haven't seen you practice." 

"Hey, paps, you're right!" Roman hugged me tight and released me, excitement dancing in his eyes. "Do you want to come with us?" 

"I was going to look after the dogs for a bit and start prepping food. You all will be hungry when you get back!" I bounced on my feet, hands placed on Roman's shoulders too. "Besides, I want you to surprise me with your sketches!" 

_Liar._

I could feel Virgil's gaze on me, so I turned my smile to him. "And you can wear your leather bracers when you practice archery!" 

"YOU HAVE LEATHER BRACERS AND DIDN'T TELL ME?!" Roman whirled his attention back to the other boy. 

Virgil chuckled. "Oh Princey, I have leather everything. Well, except underwear and socks, I guess. But everything else." 

Logan finally descended the stairs. "Oh welcome back Patton and Virgil. I'm sure Roman told you-?" 

"Yep, I did!" Roman turned to Logan. "Did you know Virgil has a bunch of leather clothes?!" 

"Indeed. He crafts them himself." 

Roman's jaw dropped while Virgil just tugged at his sleeves and muttered, "I'll go get my bracers." 

Logan turned to me, "Are you going to come with us?" 

"No, I'm going to take care of some things here," I smiled at him. 

_Liar._

His expression didn't change, except for a slight tightening around his eyes. Something I noticed that he did when he was trying to figure something out. 

Virgil, mercifully, came back downstairs, "Are we ready?" 

Roman spoke up, "Of course! Let's go!" He paused by me and clapped a hand on my shoulder, "Don't work too hard, Pat!" 

Logan was still subtly studying my face as he walked by, "We'll see you later, Patton." 

"I'll grab some dog stuff while we're out," Virgil smiled to me. 

The door shut and locked behind them. My smile faded. The dachshund trotted up to me and whined. 

"You seemed to have convinced them just fine," Deceit said. 

I turned and looked at him. He was wearing yellow duck pajamas and was working on a sudoku puzzle at the couch. He had a single monocle in front of his slitted snake eye, that he took out to look at me. 

"I dunno what you're referring to," I shrugged. 

_Liar._

He grinned. "I see. My mistake." He replaced the monocle and glanced at the sudoku puzzle. 

I decided to leave him to it. I picked up the dachshund and walked up to my room. I was perfectly fine with taking a break for a bit! Besides, I can get a lot done when the others are out doing stuff! 

_Liar._


	23. Anxiety and Morality #3

_Virgil's POV_

I couldn't focus on archery, which is kind of a problem. 

"Ace! You've gotta focus! How can you be an Ace at archery if you can't even Ace your focus?" Roman said. 

I frowned at him. "If you say 'ace' one more time, I might have to smack you." 

Logan loosed his arrow. It hit dead center. Again. He looked at me out the corner of his eyes. "Roman is correct, Virgil. You've been spacier than usual." 

Roman snickered. "Good one Arrow." 

Logan blinked, then glared at him, "You know that isn't what I meant." 

"Seriously, I'm fine. I'm just... worried about Patton." 

"You too?" Logan returned his gaze to me. 

I stared at him. "You were worried?" 

"Of course. He was lying when we left. I can tell that from him easily, but I couldn't figure out why." 

My expression fell. Roman looked between us. "What? Patton? Patton and lying just don't go in the same sentence guys." 

We both looked at him and I imagined him remembering when Deceit finally revealed himself after Roman's play. He blinked. "Oh. Right. But... do you think it's something like that?" 

"I'm unsure. He and Virgil were out this morning." Logan set the bow down. "Virgil, What happened?" 

"Well..." I fiddled with my sleeves. "We went to take the dogs out but while we were out, I was thinking about something so I was looking it up on my phone and he thought I wasn't interested in being outside with him and the dogs..." 

"What were you looking up?" / "Did you explain the situation?" Roman / Logan asked simultaneously. 

I blinked and looked between them. "Uh..." 

Logan frowned. "And we all just left him there?" 

"To be fair, I had no idea..." Roman raised his hands. "Besides, he said he's got things to do there!" 

"W-well, Pat and I were talking about the dogs and we were going to try and contact Phoenix, since the dogs are magic from their world, and we don't know how long they'll be able to stay in ours..." I looked at Roman. 

Roman blinked. "What, me? I don't know how to summon Phoenix! The portal just showed up in my room, and suddenly we all met them... Maybe if we just talk about them or say their name a bunch of times, they'll appear?" 

"They aren't Bloody Mary, Roman," Logan sighed. 

"Not with that attitude. Besides, that's the only idea I've got." 

"Perhaps it works like magic and summoning does in TV shows?" I asked. 

Logan readjusted his glasses. "I don't think that's a good idea." 

"You don't think what is a good idea?" 

The three of us yelled out and turned to the voice. Phoenix hung halfway out an oval-shaped portal, grinning. "I heard you three wanted to summon me?"


	24. Anxiety and Morality #4

_Virgil's POV_

"Phoenix!" I yelled. 

"So you really are like Bloody Mary!" Roman exclaimed. 

Logan sighed. 

"I haven't the foggiest of who this 'Bloody Mary' of yours is, but I sure hope she gets some bandages soon. What is happening?" 

Logan stepped towards them, "We were curious about the dogs Patton summoned. How are they able to stay in our world if they are made from magic from yours?" 

Phoenix tipped their head, concern filling their eyes. "You know... I'm not entirely sure." They stepped through the portal, letting it close behind them. "Where is Patton now? And the dogs?" 

"Everyone is at home." 

"Let's go back then. I want to see them for myself." Phoenix tucked their thumbs into the pockets in their pants and looked at us. Roman sighed and helped Logan and I pack up. 

\--- 

"Patton, we're home!" Roman yelled into the house. "Also, Phoenix is with us!" 

The big dogs came racing up to us with an assortment of toys in their mouths. Phoenix chuckled and greeted them. I looked around for the dachshund and Patton, but neither were present. On the coffee table sat a completed Sudoku puzzle and an empty coffee cup. Even the kitchen was exactly as we'd left it. Empty but with dishes in the sink. 

"Perhaps he went out to purchase food?" Logan suggested. 

"But he usually leaves a note." I checked the front of the fridge but no notes were there. I frowned and turned back to them, "I'm going to check his room." 

Roman glanced at Logan, both starting to get more concerned. I started walking up the stairs to be greeted by duck pajamas. I followed the PJs up their owner's legs into the face of Deceit. 

"Good afternoon to you, Anxiety," Deceit chuckled at my scowl. "And what do I owe the pleasure of your company?" 

"I'm looking for Patton. Is he up there?" 

"Would you believe me? Regardless of what I tell you?" 

"Probably not." 

"Heh," he moved to the side, "Then check for yourself, Ace." He winked and made his way downstairs into the kitchen. 

I stopped in front of Patton's door and knocked. "Pat? It's Virgil... can I-?" 

The door swung open and Patton stood there smiling brightly. "Hey, kiddo! You're back early!"

I jumped slightly then tried glancing into the room. "Uh yeah, Phoenix is downstairs." 

"Oh are they? Let me grab Digger real quick." 

"Digger?" 

"The dachshund!" Patton ducked back into his room, shutting the door. Before I could comprehend what just happened, Patton came out with the dog in his arms, shutting the door behind himself again. "Better not keep our guest waiting!" 

"Uh... yeah-" But he was already going downstairs. I checked the door handle, but it was locked. How did he lock it so fast...? What is he hiding? 

Phoenix and Patton greeted each other, and I could only assume the dog was trying to lick them due to their giggling. "Well, the dogs seem to be adjusting well," Phoenix's voice floated upstairs. "I don't really see any magical decay on them at all." 

"But how?" Logan asked. 

I descended the stairs with just enough time to see Phoenix shrug and a vein become visible in Logan's neck. "Sorry Logan, I'm not necessarily an expert on the magic of your world." 

"Considering we're only parts of one person, and our world doesn't exactly have magic, shouldn't it stand to reason that the dogs exist because of that same person? Or maybe a different person is in charge of these dogs?" Roman suggested. 

"But Patton created them with his magic?" I frowned. 

Logan suddenly looked serious, "Unless a different person allowed each of us to have magic powers in the world Phoenix came from... That's an interesting idea, Roman." 

Roman beamed at us and readjusted his collar. "Well, gee thank you..." 

"Well that would explain how my patch and Logan's tie worked outside of Roman's dreamscape," I said. 

The five of us exchanged uneasy looks. The air started to feel weird, and I think the others noticed too. It got so uncomfortably silent that even Digger looked nervous. 

"W-well... uh... let's not focus on that, shall we?" Patton forced a chuckle. "That sounds a little too heavy for us tonight!" 

Phoenix shivered. "Yeah... a little too meta, I think." 

Roman glanced around. "Yikes..." 

Logan and I exchanged looks, and I sighed. "Alright," I turned to Phoenix, "Want to stay for a while?" 

"I shouldn't. Gryphon is unable to rule while I'm away, seeing as she's still so young. But I can leave a window open for you to contact me through instead. That way you don't have to call me Bloody Mary." 

Roman and I exchanged looks and raised our eyebrows simultaneously. He cringed first. 

"Y-yeah... that sounds great Phoenix..." 

They opened up another rainbow portal and stepped through. "If anything happens, let me know!" 

"Wait-!" the portal closed before Logan could finish. He sighed. "Where are they going to put this portal window thingy and how does it work...?" 

"Eh, I'm sure it'll all work out in the end!" Patton set Digger down. "So, who's hungry?" 

"I am," Deceit said. 

We all whipped our heads to the kitchen, with Roman shouting, "HOW LONG HAVE YOU BEEN THERE?!" 

Deceit stared at us. "I've been doing dishes this whole time." 

"Where are your gloves?" I challenged. 

"Clean." He dried his hands. "What are we eating tonight, family?" 

Roman groaned. "I suddenly lost my appetite." 

Deceit smirked.


	25. Anxiety and Morality #5

_Patton's POV_

The five of us sat around the dinner table, silently picking at the spaghetti I made for us. Deceit piled spaghetti onto some garlic bread and nearly unhinged his jaw for a bite. Roman gave him a look, equivalent to a mother getting ready to get after her child. Deceit ignored him, munching happily. Logan had his napkin tucked in over his tie and was going about the meal in a semi-orderly fashion. Virgil had already eaten all the meatballs with the garlic bread, and was starting to slurp up the noodles. 

"S-so! How is everyone enjoying the meal?" I asked. 

Roman cheered up, "This is absolutely divine, Pat! Thank you!" 

Virgil grunted around a bite of noddles and almost started coughing. 

Logan glanced between Virgil and Deceit, twitching slightly at the mess the two were making. He looked to Patton, after patting his mouth of sauce. "It's really good. You even balanced the seasonings well." 

I grinned. "Wow, thanks Logan!" 

Deceit glanced at me and shrugged., “S’all right.” 

"I'm glad you're enjoying it, Deceit!" I continued eating my food. 

Roman looked at me, "How can you tell when he's lying or not?" 

I looked back at him. "I dunno, I guess the intent behind it? I'm not sure." 

Deceit looked at Roman, "Are you jealous?" 

Roman scowled. "Step off, buddy, I've got food to eat." 

“Worried I’ll help you lose your appetite?” He grinned again. 

Roman turned to Virgil and I. “So, what’s the tea with you two?” 

Virgil started coughing on his noodles. Logan frowned, glancing at something under the table, before turning his attention back to us, “Couldn’t you try to be more discrete about asking? Maybe they didn’t know or they don’t want to talk about it?” 

I tipped my head at them. “What are you talking about? Virgil and I are fine!” 

Deceit hummed to himself, sipping some water. 

“I… I don’t really believe that Pat,” Virgil cleared his throat, looking towards me. I blinked, staring back. 

He fidgeted, eyes darting back to his dinner, “You were really upset earlier but we didn’t get a chance to talk about it.” 

“That’s because we’re okay?” 

“Yeah but-” he sighed. “Is everything actually okay?” 

“Of course! Why wouldn’t it be? We’re all sitting at a table together, after all!” I grinned at them, trying to still the shaking in my leg. “We all helped one way or another to bring this meal together, and nobody’s snuck off into another room to eat! I say this is a good day!” 

Deceit was still staring at me. Wait when did he start? I avoided his gaze, watching the others slowly nod and become convinced. They soon dropping the subject. Well, except for Virgil, who was still frowning uncertainly at me. I’d have to figure out a way to convince him later. 

The rest of the meal was eaten in relative silence. Deceit had finished first, silently standing and washing his dishes before disappearing upstairs. One of the big dogs followed him up. 

Logan excused himself minutes later, washing his dishes as well and retiring to his room. Roman followed Logan’s departure with his eyes before making up some excuse and vanishing to his room. He hadn’t even finished his dinner yet. Virgil watched the whole thing before looking to me. “So what’s really bothering you?” 

“Nothing!” 

“Really? Deceit never looked more comfortable at the table with all of us here.” 

I frowned at him. “What’s wrong with him being comfortable with us?” 

“He’s only ever comfortable when there’s drama to be had. Or created. Which means he knows something’s going on between us. So what is it?” 

“Virge, there’s nothing wrong! Would I lie to you?” 

“Yeah, you would. If you thought it would protect my feelings.” 

I blinked, staring at him. _Hammer, meet nail._

He seemed to understand exactly what I was thinking. He leaned onto the table, frowning, staring right back at me. “So, what’s bothering ya?” 

I fidgeted shrinking in my seat. “You just seemed to be having a lot of fun with Logan and Roman, and I felt like we were drifting apart… but I couldn’t really figure out how to fix it. I thought it was just me, so I decided to give you some space, but… I don’t know, I felt worse because of it…” 

Virgil blinked several times. “What…? Oh Patton… No I… we just had more opportunities to hang out. I thought you were busy so I was trying to give _you_ space.” 

“Wait… huh? We thought-” I started laughing. “S-sorry kiddo I wasn’t expecting this!” 

Virgil chuckled, scratching the back of his neck. “Yeah… heh, I wasn’t either…” He picked up his dishes and reached for mine. “Thanks for dinner. I’ll do the rest of the dishes tonight. Maybe we can do something tomorrow?” 

I jumped up, “You don’t have to do the dishes!” 

“Don’t worry pops,” Virgil winked. “I can handle a few dishes.” 

I hugged him tight. My words were failing me, but I knew my expression said enough. “Alright,” I pulled back, grinning brightly, “Tomorrow!”


	26. Anxiety and Morality #6

_Virgil’s POV_

I fiddled with my jacket strings, waiting for Patton to come downstairs. _Today. Yesterday’s tomorrow is now today. But yesterday is now yesterday. And it was tomorrow yesterday. I think? Time is weird, I don’t like it. Where’s Pat-_

The dachshund raced down the stairs, skidding to a halt by my feet. He stared up at me and barked. 

“Digger! Where’s your leash?” 

The pup whirled around, his ears flopping in his face, before bolting to one of the cabinets by the front door and pointing at it with his nose. I grinned, and from the stairs, Patton cooed, “Good job Digger!” The dog almost couldn’t stay still long enough for Patton to clip the leash on him. 

I opened the door for them and followed them out. I looked to Patton. “Mind if I showed you what I was looking at the other day?”

Patton looked to me cautiously. “Yeah sure…” 

We started walking, with Patton trailing somewhat behind me. It felt weird to not have him walking beside me, and when I glanced back, he was watching the clouds move through the sky. I slowed down and took his free hand. “So you don’t get lost,” I joked when he glanced at me. He grinned, squeezing my hand back. 

Digger trotted along with us with next to no issues, pausing to sniff whatever plant or pole caught his attention. The weather was mild with a light breeze. The sun warm enough to keep us from needing a jacket, not that it stopped me from wearing mine. Patton kept fidgeting, glancing at me uncertainly. 

We eventually got out of town and saw a house in the middle of a field. Patton frowned, stopping in his tracks. I blinked, glancing back at him. “Are you okay Patton?” 

“Where are we even going?” 

“That house. I was looking into a bigger house for us so we can do our little hobbies without bothering each other, but still be cozy enough for everyone to get together..”   
Patton’s eyes went wide. “You went… house hunting…? For us? Without me??” 

I blinked, “What-?” 

“I’M SO PROUD OF YOU!” Patton swallowed me up in a hug. Digger barked at his lightened voice. 

“MMPH!!” I tapped Patton’s shoulder, who immediately let go. “You’re not mad…?” 

“No, of course not! Let’s go see this house, then you and I can do the decorating thing! If you don’t mind me intruding on your gift?” 

“Gift? What? No! Er, it isn’t a gift? It’s… uh… it’s just a practical change of scenery that’ll benefit all of us!” 

“Alright, Loganberry,” Patton winked at me, walking ahead to survey the surrounding lands. 

I grumbled, flipping my hood up to hide the blush. That’s gonna come back to me, isn’t it? 

“Speaking of, have you talked to Logan about this?” 

“Eh, briefly. It isn’t coming from his paycheck.” 

“Wait, then-?” 

I glanced at Patton. “Eh, don’t worry about it pops. I guess it kinda is a gift to us.” 

Patton practically had stars shining in his eyes. He looked like he could barely restrain himself from ripping the door off its handles to go inside. Digger was more than excited to check out the new place, too. 

I pulled out my phone and called the real estate agent and talked with them, watching Patton go through basically everything. He was holding Digger in his arms now, spinning with the dog. After several minutes, I hung up and approached Patton. “You like this?” 

“Of course! Wow, I can’t believe you did this for us!” 

“Well, there are some things we’re going to need to fix and upgrade, but it shouldn’t be too hard!” _I hope…_

Patton hugged me tightly again. “Thanks, Virgil…” 

I hugged him back, smiling, “No problem Pat…”


End file.
